Neko
by Angel Frog
Summary: AU. Ranma has had it after Jusenkyo. Now he is striking out far away from China, Japan, and especially his father as he deals with being part cat.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2.

AN: Look! I actually remembered the disclaimer this time!

Prologue

Genma threw Ranma in one more time. If the ungrateful boy didn't learn the Neko-ken this time, he wouldn't know what to do. Not long after he had thrown Ranma in to it, an unearthly yowl came from the pit. Genma looked up happily, thinking that Ranma had finally learned the technique. He watched as the bars covering the pit were slashed into pieces. He would have been overjoyed, but Ranma chose that moment to come out of the pit. The expression on Ranma's face would have made demon's feel fear and Genma was no exception. He turned and tried to run.

Genma woke up several hours later with claw marks all over his body. He was about to start looking for his son when his self-preservation instincts kicked in and he convinced himself that it was not at all cowardly to wait a while. No, he had all kinds of things to do first. He could find his wayward son later.

Several days later, Ranma and Genma left. Ranma had been with an old woman who had managed to break him out of the Neko-ken and Genma had come in the middle of the night to get him out. Ranma hadn't wanted to leave, but Genma had given him no choice.

> > > > > > > 

After the Neko-ken, Ranma no longer trusted his father at all. Ever since he had gone through it, he had taken every opportunity he could to read anything he could get his hands on. Any time Genma objected, Ranma would pound him into the ground and continue reading. After many of these incidents, Genma had learned to just leave it alone. He couldn't even object to it under the pretence that Ranma's fighting suffered. If anything, Ranma just got better.

It did not take long for many of the views that Genma had tried to beat into Ranma's head to be proven wrong. In fact, after some of the things he read, he realized that not only were females equal in many ways to males, in some cases they were stronger. The next time Genma tried to say girls were weak, Ranma pounded him into the ground.

The two of them had arrived at Jusenkyo. Ranma was bored with all this and just wished he could get rid of Genma. He barely listened as the guide talked about the springs and how they were cursed. Ranma turned and looked at Genma. "All right, old man. Is there a point to this, or can I go?"

Genma frowned. "We are going to spar over the springs. Unless of course you're afraid of getting dunked. Then we can just go now."

Ranma yawned in boredom. He didn't care what Genma said. "Whatever old man. Let's just get this over with. I don't feel like listening to you whining." He paused a moment and a malicious smirk crossed his face. "You know, its amazing how much you sound like a little girl yourself at times."

Genma's face purpled slightly in fury, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he turned and jumped for the nearest pole. Ranma joined him seconds later. Both ignored the guide's desperate warnings for them to come away.

Both jumped and attacked in a flurry of kicks and punches. A sidekick that sent him down into a spring surprised Genma. However, it was not enough to deter him and he sprung to attack.

Ranma was waiting on one of the poles as he watched the spring that Genma had fallen into. A moment, later, he was surprised to see a large, furry black and white animal jump out. While he was staring in surprise, the animal kicked him hard enough to send him flying across the valley and into one of the springs.

Right after Genma had taken advantage of Ranma's surprise, he realized that something was wrong. He was covered in fur and apparently had claws.

Ranma came bursting up out of the spring he had been thrown into. It didn't take him long to realize that something was off. Once he realized that he was now a she, fury nearly blinded her as she ran towards Genma for retribution. Unfortunately, Genma got a lucky strike in and Ranma was once more flying across the valley.

This time, when Ranma fell in, she could tell something was wrong right away. She looked down and found that there was a light covering of fur, all over. It was barely noticeable from very far away, but it was there. Her ears twitched, and she realized for the first time that both sight and sound seemed amplified. She reached up with one hand and found ears on top of her head. A faint motion from behind made her realize that she had a tail.

Not even thinking about it, Ranma climbed out and dropped to all fours before shaking herself. When she was done, her tail was slightly puffed and her fur was standing slightly on end, but she was mostly dry. She calmly made her way toward where the guide and her father were waiting for her.

Ranma and Genma were still somewhat shocked. The guide had explained the curse and poured water over Ranma as a demonstration. Ranma was relieved to be male again, but froze suddenly as he realized that something else was still there. He still had the cat-like physical features.

Genma, meanwhile, was human again and looking relieved until he saw the look in Ranma's eyes. The last time he had seen a look like that in his eyes, Ranma had just learned the Neko-ken. He had looked that way just before shredding Genma so badly that he had taken almost a month to heal completely.

Genma bolted instantly. Anything else would have been suicide with Ranma looking like that. Ranma was after him in seconds.

A long and hard chase later, Ranma had lost Genma, but he didn't mind too much. Jusenkyo had been the last straw. Ranma knew that Genma had been planning something. He also knew that it would not be good for him in the long run. Ranma had also had something planned for quite a while, just in case Genma pulled something like this.

> > > > > > > 

AN: I know that something like this has been done before, but I'll try to be somewhat original. If I don't manage, you'll just have to tell me. I have the first few chapters already written, but I can change certain things. And if you try to tell me that my prologue isn't very original, I'll have to tell you I know. I did say its been done before, but hopefully I'll provide some kind of twist at some point.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 or Harry Potter. 

Chapter 1

Some months later...

Hagrid was patrolling the Forbidden Forest when he heard what sounded like something fighting. Since most things in the Forest were big enough to give even him some trouble, he approached cautiously. What he saw surprised him. It looked like a girl was fighting one of Aragog's children. The strangest part was that it looked like she was winning.

After a long, hard, but successful, fight, the girl turned towards him. Hagrid knew that continuing to hide when she obviously knew he was there was pointless, so he came out from behind a tree. "Hello there. Don't know yer name, but I'm sure ya'd like some food."

She perked up slightly when he said food, and came slowly closer; walking on all fours like it was natural. She sniffed the air and seemed to find something she approved of, because she came the rest of the way forward and butted her head against his hand. He smiled with delight and gently stroked her head. Eventually, she got tired of that, and, taking advantage of the fact that he was sitting, she calmly pushed his arms out of the way and climbed into his lap to sleep.

After making sure she wouldn't wake up, Hagrid gently gathered her into his arms and went back towards Hogwarts. The girl had several serious wounds, obviously gotten from the fight, and Madam Pomfrey would be able to help.

In the Infirmary, Madam Pomfrey looked up as Hagrid came in. She didn't see him often unless he visited her patients, so she didn't know why he was there. That was, of course, until she noticed that he was carrying somebody in his arms. "Who is this, Hagrid?" She asked as she got him to set the person, now revealed to be a girl, onto one of the cots.

Hagrid stepped back to give her room in diagnosing the redhead's many injuries as he explained how he had found her fighting one of Aragog's children, and how she had eventually won and approached him.

Neither of them had noticed that Dumbledore was there until he spoke. "An interesting tale. I wonder where she's from?" he commented.

Hagrid quickly calmed down enough to answer. "Don't know, sir. She was acting fairly cat-like, though."

Pomfrey broke in at that point. "I don't know how exactly she will act when she wakes, but she does have some interesting features." She glanced up at them and motioned them to come closer. "She has ears on top of her head similar to a cat and a rather bushy tail. She reacted when I touched them, so I assume they are part of her."

Dumbledore nodded as she demonstrated. He smiled calmly and addressed them both. "Poppy, I am sure you would prefer to continue your work, so Hagrid and I will be going now. Hagrid, I am sure that she will wake in the morning and based on her actions, she seems to trust you. Perhaps you should come back then."

Hagrid agreed and, after saying goodnight, went back down to his hut.

> > > > > > >

Hagrid came back up the next morning, wanting to see if the girl was awake yet. When he entered the Hospital Wing, he was greeted with a rather strange sight. The girl was crouched on the cot she had been placed on the night before, facing off with Poppy, who was obviously trying to feed her a potion. The girl slashed at the bottle but did not get near enough to touch it. Or so they thought. The bottle fell apart as if it had been cut into pieces.

Hagrid stepped forward and started to say something, when the girl's head whipped around and she saw him. Before anybody knew it, she was across the room and climbing his coat with surprising speed. She curled up across his shoulders and purred as if she belonged there.

Hagrid grinned happily. "So yah do rememba' me!"

Ranma purred. "Course I remember you, silly. Like your scent." Hagrid and Poppy blinked.

Poppy was the first to speak. "You can talk? What is your name, child?"

Ranma raised an eyebrow at her, but answered anyway. "I'm Ranma. How'd I get here? Last thing I remember is—" She paused. "That was a big spider."

> > > > > > >

Ranma's first encounter with Harry was an interesting one. She had accompanied Hagrid when he went out to his hut. Actually, she had clung to his coat and hissed at Pomfrey whenever she came within three feet of them. Her ears had been flat and her tail lashing wildly. Hagrid had recognized the signs and cautiously suggested that maybe she could go outside with him until a place was found for her. Ranma had been happy to agree. Her tail had stopped lashing and her ears came up, though she kept an eye on Pomfrey. The two had left quickly.

Outside, Hagrid realized that his class would be meeting soon. "Well, I better ge' to my class, Ranma. Yer welcome to explore if you get bored."

Ranma grinned and nodded. "Alright," was all she said.

The first few students got there just as Hagrid got back to his hut. Ranma barely noticed as they called out familiar greetings to him. The trio were obviously good friends with both Hagrid and each other. But her eyes were fixed on one of them, a small, black-haired boy with green eyes and glasses. There was something strange about him.

Her eyes narrowed slightly in concentration before widening with surprised comprehension. He was a Snaketongue! He also had a snake's mind, if she wasn't mistaken.

The three friends jerked in surprise when a girl with cat ears and a tail jumped down from where she had been perched on Hagrid's shoulders. Hagrid laughed. "Sorry fer that. Almost fergot. This is Ranma. Found her yesterday."

The trio gave Hagrid wary glances, but quickly focused on the girl. She was standing almost nose-to-nose with Harry. Ranma sniffed from her close proximity, but Harry did not blink. He recognized a test when he saw one.

Ranma smiled slightly to herself. She had been right. He was a Snaketongue and had a snake's mind, which he obviously kept hidden from his friends. She stepped back several paces, but kept her gaze locked on him.

After a moment, she spoke. "Do not kill the snake because it does not trust. If it is kill or be killed, then kill, but do not kill the snake that does not trust. Listen to the snake of the mind and speak with the snake of the ground, but do not kill the snake that does not trust and do not trust the snake that kills." As soon as she had said this, Ranma turned and jumped back to her perch on Hagrid's shoulders.

Harry stared at her. He hadn't expected it, but he knew better than to discount the warning, even though most of the Divination he had seen was a load of crock. Something told him that what Ranma said would be important, so he nodded to her and concentrated on remembering exactly what she said so he would be able to write it down.

Ranma nodded to herself. He would remember. She turned her attention to his two friends, and blinked. Then she jumped down once more. She stopped in front of the redhead first. "Oh, I see! A Fireheart! I didn't think I'd meet one here."

Ron blinked at her. "Fireheart? What do you mean by that?"

Ranma smiled happily. "Just as it sounds. If they are jealous, then they are jealous with everything in them. If they are happy, then they almost float. A Fireheart is someone who tends to burn with whatever they feel. They feel things almost absolutely and can be some of the most loyal people in the world. On the other hand, if they don't like someone, then they can hold a grudge for _years_ after hostilities officially end."

Ron felt his ears burn slightly as he blushed. Harry had paused in his memorizing efforts and Hermione laughed at the accurate description. Ranma grinned. "See? Told ya." She paused in thought. "True Firehearts are rarer than most people would believe. I'd say that you aren't the only one in your family though." Ron blinked at her. "Does red hair run in your family?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, it comes from both my parents."

Ranma grinned. "So which of your parents is the fiery one?" She looked around in confusion as she heard choked-off laughter. Both Harry and Hermione were trying to keep their laughter under control and failing miserably. She turned back to Ron and was surprised by how red he looked.

"My mum is the, ah, fiery one." Ron was almost glowing with embarrassment.

Ranma's grin widened. "Oh, I see. Your mother is a true Fireheart then. That explains it." She turned away from him and looked at Hermione. She tilted her head slightly. There was something strange about her.

Hermione watched as Ranma walked closer and seemed to be sniffing, as well as studying her closely. "Is something wrong?" She asked it cautiously.

Ranma smiled distractedly. "No. There's nothing wrong, but I'd swear you smelled familiar."

Hermione blinked. "How can I _smell_ familiar? I'd think I would remember someone like you, no offense."

Ranma frowned in concentration. "None taken. Where are you from?"

Hermione blinked. "Harrogate. Why?"

Ranma's frown deepened. "Harrogate. Harrogate. I know I've heard of that…Wait a minute!" She turned to stare at Hermione. Then she turned away and went over to a nearby tree and punched it, hard. "That idiotic, bastard panda! I'm going to kill him!" She punched the trunk again, harder. After another punch, the tree, which was almost six feet around, came crashing down.

The trio plus Hagrid stared at her in surprise. They were even more surprised when she went and jumped back onto Hagrid's shoulders. He felt her trembling and cautiously put a hand up against her head. He relaxed when he felt her rub against his hand and calmly rubbed her ears until she had calmed.

Eventually, she stopped trembling and sighed, putting her head down across her arms and ignoring everyone around her. Hagrid dropped his hand and looked around, realizing that his class had gathered while he was distracted.

Ranma ignored the students as she stared off into space. She had remembered Harrogate all right. It was where Genma had decided to try a new technique and lost all traces of any trust or love she might have felt for her father. She was almost glad that it had happened, but the Neko-ken had been a scar on her mind until Jusenkyo had allowed her control over the curse. She smirked slightly. 'Controlling a curse with a curse. Who would have thought.' Her smirk faded. 'Only in my life.'

She decided to turn her mind to less depressing thoughts and looked around. Hagrid was engrossed in teaching his class and wasn't paying attention to her. She got bored with listening to him fairly quickly, so she decided to find something else to do.

The trio was listening to Hagrid when it happened. Harry was the first to notice, and he coughed to try to mask his laughter. Ron and Hermione looked over at him. He just nodded toward Hagrid, so they both turned to look. Both had a hard time concealing their laughter as they watched Ranma.

Ranma had climbed down the front of Hagrid's coat lightly enough that if you weren't looking at her, you could hardly tell. She was now in one of the many pockets. Ranma had gone in headfirst and they could only see her from the waist down. Her feet were hooked on the edge of the pocket and her rear was in the air with her tail waving merrily. There was obviously something interesting in that pocket. She came out a moment later with something in her mouth and climbed calmly back to her original perch. Hagrid had been watching her with amusement from the time she had dived into his pocket.

As soon as she reached her original perch, Ranma took whatever she had found out of her mouth and released it in mid-air. The watchers were surprised when they realized that she had found a Snitch. They watched her bat at it and were unsurprised when it flew away.

What surprised them was that Ranma launched herself off of Hagrid's shoulders, twisted in mid-air, and batted at it again. She did this repeatedly as she played with the tiny golden ball. It never seemed to get out of her reach, even when it flew about twenty feet off the ground. Ranma would just settle back slightly, and launch herself at it once more. Whenever she did that, the Snitch would fly closer to the ground, before suddenly shooting up again. Each time it shot up, it would get a little higher, but Ranma would bat it down again every time.

> > > > > > >

AN: I have seen many of the 'Ranma becomes a cat' stories, and some of them are even crossovers. In these crossovers, I don't think I have seen anybody do a 'Ranma becomes a cat' combined with 'Ranma goes to Hogwarts'. Usually if Ranma is at Hogwarts it is because somebody noticed that he is a wizard and sent a letter for him to Nerima. I like some of the 'Ranma goes to Hogwarts as a student' fics, but I wanted something more original.

Somebody asked if it was a crossover, and obviously the answer is yes. Unfortunately, I don't know Gold Digger very well, so I did this instead.

AN2: People have been complaining that I have not made it clear that time passed between Jusenkyo and the first chapter. If the change I made doesn't make this clear, then I am sorry but I am not going to rewrite my story to try to accomodate everyone. It doesn't work, and I refuse to give myself headaches trying.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Ranma 1/2. 

Chapter 2

Eventually, Professor McGonagall came out to find out where her class was. It wouldn't have been a big deal, but almost every one of the Slytherins and Gryffindors in her class were missing.

Their first meeting startled both Ranma and McGonagall.

Ranma was happily playing with the ball she had found. It was going almost forty feet in the air now. She jumped and tagged it from above, but was startled when she realized that she was by the entrance to the big school, Hogwarts. She was even more startled by the fact that there was someone standing almost right below her.

Ranma barely had time to try and twist in mid-air to avoid crashing into McGonagall, but wasn't able to avoid it completely.

McGonagall was almost thrown back into the door she had just come out of, and her wand was automatically in her hand. She stared at the girl before her. She had red hair with orange-ish ears now flattened against the top of her head. An orange-ish tail was resting against the ground behind her, and the look on her face was a mixture of some strange fear and concern. McGonagall blinked as she realized both emotions were directed at her. She put her wand away and looked into the eyes of the child before her. She was startled when she realized that they had slit pupils, like cat's eyes.

Ranma was relieved when she realized that the woman in front of her was not injured, but still felt horrible. She sniffed, trying to understand why she was feeling so ashamed of hitting the woman in front of her. Her eyes widened in surprise when she recognized the cat-scent hidden within the woman's own scent. It wasn't like her scent, half-cat and half-human, it was more like the woman had an alternate scent.

McGonagall was somewhat surprised. The girl almost looked like she had tried to transform into a cat and got stuck halfway. Little did she know how close she was to the truth. Ranma's body had been caught by two entirely different curses and had settled on a compromise.

Ranma stood slowly, studying the woman in front of her. Then, without knowing quite why she did it, Ranma mewed softly. The woman started slightly, staring at her.

McGonagall was not surprised that she had understood the mew, which conveyed a certain uncertainty and wish to be accepted. What surprised her was the fact that the child could convey exactly what she meant to, even in her seemingly half-transformed state. She smiled and nodded slightly. She would accept the girl without reservations.

Ranma grinned happily, pleased that she would be accepted. Her grin showed off somewhat fang-like teeth.

> > > > > > > 

McGonagall quickly decided that Ranma should know most of the professors. Besides McGonagall, only three of them stood out in Ranma's mind. The first had been the extremely small and excitable Flitwick. He had been so excited that he had fallen backwards off the stack of books he had stood on when the Ranma and McGonagall came in.

"Oh, hello Minerva. Who is this?" Flitwick was delighted at the obviously unusual girl's appearance.

"Hello, Filius. This is Ranma. Hagrid found her in the Forbidden Forest last night." McGonagall was acting calm, but she was inwardly confused. What was this strange girl doing in the Forbidden Forest?

Both teachers watched for a moment as Ranma happily explored the classroom. She looked up as she caught the scent of McGonagall's bewilderment. "Don't worry, Auntie Min. I'll tell you everything later."

McGonagall nodded distractedly. Then her head snapped up in sheer surprise. "What did you call me?"

Ranma smiled as her plan to distract her Auntie Min was pulled off. "I called you Auntie Min. You aren't my momma, but you act like an aunt." McGonagall stared. She was vaguely aware of Flitwick laughing behind her, and the muffled thump that signaled that he had, yet again, fallen off his stack of books. But most of her attention was focused on the small girl in front of her. She had never had anyone have the nerve to call her anything like Ranma's new nickname for her, but she didn't mind too much. It was the fact that she had said it to her face that really stunned her. Ranma seemed to know she was fine and had gone back to exploring.

> > > > > > > 

After Flitwick, there was Professor Sprout. Ranma had taken an immediate liking to the cheerful woman.

"Oh, hello Minerva. How are you today?" Sprout was repotting several plants when they came in.

"Hello, Rosemary. I'm fine, thank you. I decided Ranma here needed to get acquainted with some of the teachers here."

Sprout looked up from what she was doing for the first time since they had come in. Ranma was peeking shyly around Minerva, not seeming very sure of her.

Sprout looked startled, but came over anyway. "Hello, Ranma was it?"

Ranma came out a little more and got a good look at Sprout. "Yes. My name is Ranma." She sniffed the air. "You smell good." She came out completely and went over to Sprout. She sniffed some more before leaning forward and rubbing her head against Sprout's hand. Sprout was startled, but she tentatively reached forward and scratched Ranma's head. She was startled again when she felt a pair of cat-like ears, but she didn't hesitate to scratch them. This seemed to make Ranma very happy, and a loud purr resounded throughout the greenhouse.

> > > > > > > 

Snape's introduction did not go as well. Ranma and McGonagall soon found him down in the dungeons brewing potions. The moment they stepped in, Ranma started sneezing. Snape looked up, and was surprised by the sight of McGonagall with a young red-haired girl. The girl was sneezing.

Snape sneered slightly. "To what do I owe this…pleasure, Minerva?"

McGonagall's lips firmed into a thin line. "Ranma here will be joining Hogwarts for some time. I thought it best to introduce her to the professors. Unfortunately, she seems to be allergic to something."

Ranma smiled slightly. "I'm not allergic to anything, Auntie Min. The potions just smell bad."

Snape raised an eyebrow at the 'Auntie Min' but did not comment. "The smells of the potions are a way to gauge the correctness of them." His tone was extremely sarcastic, and Ranma growled softly.

"I did not say they werrre wrrrrong. I have no way of knowing such a thing. You arrre the one brrrrewing them. If they are wrrrrong it is yourrr own fault." The words had a slight growling undertone to them. "Though if you arrre as much of a massster as I think you arrre, then therrre shouldn't be a prrroblem."

She started to turn to leave, but turned back just before she did. Snape was staring at her in surprise. "How did you know I was a Potions Master?" he asked, but for once it was a question without the biting undertone.

Ranma looked at him for a moment and snorted. "You smell like an incredible number of different ingredients, you are at home in this place, and I can see a master of an art from a mile away." She turned and started to walk away, but added something over her shoulder as she went. "Besides, it's in your aura."

> > > > > > > 

AN: This is slightly shorter than I like, but this was a good stopping point. Sorry, but that is just the way it goes. Besides, if I get good response for this, then I will have the next chapter out soon. I've got the first few chapters already written, but once I get past the ones I have written, it will take me longer to update them. I didn't put in any of the other teachers because I really don't know what they're like. So, sorry if I didn't do your favorite teacher or whatever.

And now, I decided to respond to a few of the reviews. I won't respond to all of them because a lot of them are either just something saying they like my story (I love them, but I saw no reason to respond.) or repeat a question. Anyway...

**goku**: I don't really have any way to explain in the story just yet, but the first chapter didn't directly follow the Prologue. There are some months between that I saw no reason to write about.

**Tigger-69**: I love your review! I was reading it and I had this huge grin on my face. Anyway, no hot water in the wild is a good reason, but it's not the only one. The next chapter should explain that, but I already had it written and it didn't fit in this chapter. I chose Neko as the title of the story because it sounded better than "HP R12". I'm not kidding because that is what I call those files that I hadn't decided a name for. Unfortunately, I haven't decided exactly what Ranma's place in Hogwarts actually is. I just got this idea stuck in my head at one point and started writing it down. It was a spur of the moment type of thing. I never plan out my stories, because if I did, I probably wouldn't be able to stick to the plan. My brain just likes to be somewhat spontaneous. Besides, with as much response as I've gotten with just two chapters, it seems to work.

**Ebona Nite**: I won't be able to really explain this in the story, so I will here.

Snakemind is just something I made up. To me, it basically means that when he wants or has to, Harry can think without emotions clouding his judgement. He relates well to snakes. This doesn't mean he's emotionless, it just means that he can pretty much shove all of his emotions into the back of his mind with very little effort. looks at explanation I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense, but it is the best I can do. I haven't exactly tried to define it before.

Fireheart is also something I made up. In my mind, it means that Ron always feels something. He can't shove his emotions away like Harry can, either naturally or by necessity. If he tried to confine his emotions, the best he could do was make it so that they didn't affect him so much. It would be like having a campfire set up. To confine his emotions, Ron would have to put some kind of fire-proof sheild around the fire. The fire would still be there, but the heat wouldn't affect him as much. Does that make sense? Because, again, that is the best I can do for the moment.

**Dragon ** **Man 180**: Sorry, but Ranma won't have to deal with hot water for a while. I'll explain in the next chapter. I would love to see Malfoy humiliated by being shred to his underwear. Unfortunately, it may not happen. pouts It may sound weird, but even dragon-boy isn't idiot enough to insult someone who is using a teacher's shoulders as a resting spot. snaps fingers Darn it! But who knows, it may happen later.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After Ranma was fairly settled, McGonagall and Ranma had a long talk. McGonagall taught the cat-girl about the manners and some of the other things Ranma had missed on the road. Needless to say, McGonagall soon hated Genma as much as Ranma did. She always had the feeling that Ranma was hiding something though. She decided that she would wait to find out what was strange about her when the girl was ready.

Ranma felt slightly guilty about hiding the truth from his Auntie Min, as he had decided to call her. Her face had been priceless the first time she called her that, but she didn't seem to mind too much. He shook his head. He was now in a tall tower he had found while looking for some privacy, having changed back to male when he was alone.

It had been quite a surprise when he found out that he could change from his male to female body at will. He had meditated to take a good look at his life. In the process he had found himself in a place he had never seen, but that seemed vaguely familiar.

**Flashback**

Ranma looked around himself in awe. This place was beautiful. It was a clearing in the middle of a huge forest. The trees seemed to stretch upwards forever, with branches all along their length.

Admiring the scenery, it took a moment for him to realize that he was not alone. The female body he had gained in Jusenkyo was standing before him, only she was fully human. She was watching him with a slightly amused look on her face. He reached up and touched the top of his head and realized that he was completely human for the first time since Jusenkyo. He looked around some more and saw what looked like a panther stretched out nearby.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"We are in your mind. We brought you here to make a choice. Whichever way you choose, it will effect you for the rest of your life." Ranma-chan answered.

"What choice? What will the consequences be?" He was somehow sure that she was telling the truth, and that he could trust her.

She sighed slightly, seeming to brace herself. "We want to know if you will accept the changes you got in Jusenkyo, or reject them. If you accept them, you will be able to change from male to female at will and gain complete control of the Neko-ken." She paused to take in his reaction. "If you refuse, you will change with the least splash of water, making it impossible to hide for any length of time. You will also gain only partial control of the Neko-ken."

Ranma blinked and sat abruptly. She had caught him completely off guard. Ranma-chan smiled slightly and also sat. Ranma considered what she had said. "What do you mean, I will be able to control the Neko-ken? I'm not afraid of cats anymore, and I consider that an improvement."

Ranma-chan smiled. "If you accept the Neko-ken as part of you, you will become fairly cat-like. You will be able to communicate with all felines and control your changes. You will eventually be able to become a cat, if you concentrate hard enough. You will also be able to change back to looking human for short times. All you will have to do is concentrate hard enough."

Ranma nodded in acceptance of that. "If I don't accept the Neko-ken, you said I would only have partial control. Does that mean that it will stay the same as it is now?" She nodded. "Is this an all-or-nothing deal? Do I have to accept both to have control?" She smiled slightly, and nodded again. "Do I have to stay in both bodies, or do I have to choose one?"

Her smile widened into a grin as she answered. "You will have to stay in your female body for a while, but will still be able to change between them. To gain control of the curse, you will have to remain in your female body most of the time for …" she considered. "About twelve months." She noted his wide-eyed stare. "Don't worry, you'll still be able to change back to male, but if you stay that way too long, you will get splashed and become female once more."

"How long would be too long?" he demanded.

"Probably not more than an hour or so at a time, once or twice a day." She answered. "Once the year is up, you will be able to change at will and water won't affect you either way unless you want it to."

"Why am I being given this choice?" Ranma asked in confusion. "I can't see everybody who gets cursed at Jusenkyo being given a choice like this."

Ranma-chan nodded, but did not answer immediately. Just when Ranma was starting to wonder if she would answer, she finally spoke.

"It is amazing how many people have fallen into my spring or the Spring of Drowned Cat. So many fall into my spring, and I can sometimes get memories of their lives after they were cursed in my spring. The fact that they usually only reappear when the person dies is another thing. It's a bit like watching a movie several times. You see what happens in their lives, but it's not really your memories."

She sighed and turned toward Ranma, who was waiting patiently. "You were different. You fell into both my spring and the Spring of Drowned Cat. There was something different about your spirit. You freed my spirit from the spring. People who fall into it will still be cursed, but I am free. The same thing about you that freed me, freed the spirit from the drowned cat spring.

"Unfortunately, we only have enough energy to give you this offer once. If you do not accept, we will be separate parts of you, and will be able to watch things through your eyes but never affect anything." She saw the kind of surprised horror in his eyes and correctly guessed at the origin.

"Believe it or not, that would be an infinitely better life than being stuck in a cursed spring for eternity." The panther that was stretched out on the ground purred softly in agreement.

Ranma considered all that she told him for a long moment before nodding. "I'll accept turning into a girl and the Neko-ken. Is there anything I need to know?"

She nodded firmly. "When you wake up, you will have all the knowledge you need about your female body, so you don't panic when the time comes." She smiled almost secretively at that. "You will also act more cat-like, probably a bit like the half-grown kitten you would be as a cat.

"You will have the ability to use some of the skills that those cursed before you had. You will have to train in them, but you will have memories on how to do it. Other than that, you will have to figure out on your own." She smiled sheepishly. "I don't think anything like this has happened before."

As Ranma's surroundings faded, she called out something else. "Oh! I almost forgot. You will be drawn to a person who can teach you what you need to know. Whoever it is will be able to help you with your changes." Almost as soon as she finished, Ranma found himself once more where he had been meditating.

**End Flashback **

Ever since, Ranma had traveled west as he felt the pull of his teacher. It had been almost nine months since he had accepted what he now was. He had already spent close to a month here, and in two more he would be able to choose his own form no matter what. He would be able to finally tell his Auntie Min the whole truth.

> > > > > > >

AN: Okay. This is the chapter that I have told you about. Hopefully it answers some of the questions people have been asking me, like why Ranma isn't changing back to male. I'm sorry it's such a short chapter, but hopefully the next ones should be longer. This is the last of the chapters that I have pre-written, so I won't be able to update as frequently. I won't abandon this story, so you don't have to worry about that. I like this story too much to abandon it.

If anyone is confused about the 'he' and 'she' thing, well Ranma was female when he first called McGonagall 'Auntie Min' so he says 'the first time _she_ called her that'. When I use he, Ranma is male, and when I use she, Ranma is female. Does that make sense?

Also, I got my very first flame. If you want to know what it was and what I thought about it, look at my profile.

Review Responses:

**Peter Kim**: Genma and the others will show up, I just don't know when. As you could probably tell, I don't particularly like Genma, so expect him to get badly beaten.

**Tigger-69**: Thanks for reviewing again! I hadn't really thought about it, but you are right about Ranma respecting Snape for being a master. I think it's just something that he has ingrained in him, or maybe he realizes just how much work it takes to be a master of any craft. I don't know if Ranma will work with Snape at all, as I really don't see Ranma as the type who would do potions well, but I could be wrong. If it was something besides Potions, yes I think they would probably work well together. Besides, Ranma has already proven that she won't let a bad temper intimidate her.

**law-kun**: I'm sorry you thought it was a bit disjointed and to be honest I agree with you. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good place for this explanation earlier in the story. She knows about Snakeminds and Firehearts through experience mostly. I figure that as a cat, she would have gained some aural sight. That would mean that she could actually see some representation of people's characteristics in their auras. I don't imagine she would have been able to look much of this up, so she would have made up her own names for a few of the traits she found repeatedly.

That said, she would have been able to gain access to _some_ books, and been able to look up some stuff and compare it to what she herself could see. That will be an important point later in the story.

_Note: I modified this chapter somewhat, because to be honest, the thing was a little too simplistic and didn't explain certain things very well, such as _why_ the spirits of the two springs wanted to make the deal with Ranma. I didn't take anything out, I just added a few things._


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Ranma 1/2. If anyone thought I did, I think I can interest you in a nice bridge.

Chapter 4

Ranma looked around Hogwarts while his Auntie Min was teaching her class. Ranma had decided that he should be able to get around on his own without having to rely on a guide. Whenever he heard someone coming, he would jump up and hide in the shadows at the top of the wall. He didn't really want to explain to whoever may be in the halls who exactly he was.

Ranma heard a sound and immediately jumped to cling to the ceiling. Perhaps fortunately for him, he recognized the scent. He concentrated for a moment, and his form shrank, hair changing color until he was in his female form. Just in time, too. Dumbledore entered the hall below her.

Dumbledore was just calmly walking around Hogwarts, wanting to be alone for a few minutes. It could be incredibly exhausting to be one of the few that people looked to for answers. He frowned as he realized that he was not alone in the hall. It took a moment for him to realize, and he calmly looked up, placing one hand on his wand. It took him a moment to recognize the blue-eyed redhead clinging to the ceiling.

"Hello, child. What are you doing up there?" he asked, eyes twinkling in amusement.

Ranma smiled softly. "Auntie Min is in class right now." She paused long enough to move forward slightly so she wasn't above him and dropped down to the floor. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow as he noted the fact that she didn't seem to be using any spell to stick to the ceiling and also at the easy way she landed. "I wanted to explore so I would know where everything is."

Dumbledore smiled slightly even as he tucked his wand back out of sight. "Yes, knowing where things are in a place can save quite a bit of time."

Ranma shrugged even as she unconsciously noted where Dumbledore had stored his wand. "I don't like being lost." She gave him a bittersweet smile. "Reminds me too much of what I left behind."

Dumbledore nodded in understanding at that. Minerva often came to his office for tea and talk. She had spoken quite a bit recently about what Ranma had told her. "Yes, Minerva told me some of what you told her." He started walking and Ranma calmly fell into step beside him. "I do not mean to be rude, but I don't think we have been properly introduced, have we?" His eyes twinkled merrily as he smiled down at her.

Ranma grinned in return. She rather liked the Headmaster. "Sorry. I'm Ranma." She paused long enough to bow slightly towards him.

Dumbledore smiled softly. "As you probably already know, my name is Albus Dumbledore." He paused for a moment longer before speaking. "May I ask why you are not using your family name?"

Ranma looked at him for a long moment, unreadable. He seemed to be sincerely curious, so she decided to answer and not take offense. "I don't use my family name because I decided some time ago that I would have fewer problems without it." She grinned almost ferally as she remembered. "Besides, my father dragged our name through the mud with his actions."

Dumbledore was somewhat concerned, and reached over to put a hand on her shoulder. Ranma looked up, seemingly surprised at the comfort offered. "If you don't wish to speak of it, I won't push it. I see no reason to bring up past hurts just now."

Ranma smiled softly. "Thank you, Dumbledore-san. It means a lot to me." She calmly turned at the next intersection and waved good-bye, leaving without another word.

Dumbledore watched after her somewhat sadly. He knew that the petite girl had gone through a lot, and something told him that her hard times weren't over yet. "Good luck, child. I have a feeling you will need it." He turned to go back to his own office, grateful for the diversion that Ranma had offered.

Ranma heard him from where she had pressed against the wall around the corner. She sighed softly, because she knew without a doubt that Dumbledore was right. Her life had never been settled, and she rather doubted it would start now.

Ranma shook herself, not wanting to get depressed. She calmly walked on, this time not bothering to hide if she sensed someone coming. Most of the people here had some idea who _she_ was, they just didn't know who _he_ was. It could be confusing at times, but Ranma tried not to dwell on it.

As she was walking along, Ranma bumped into a well-built boy, about his height, who was wearing a huge traveling backpack and strange clothes. "Oh, excuse me. I didn't see you there."

The boy smiled slightly, showing fang-like teeth. "That's alright. It's partially my fault anyway. I'm Ryouga Hibiki." He looked around in confusion. "Can you tell me how to find the Tendo Dojo?"

"I'm Ranma." She blinked in confusion. "Tendo Dojo? Where's that?"

Ryouga looked at her in confusion. "It's in Nerima." He looked around. "Where am I now, anyway?"

Ranma sighed. "At the moment, you are in a school in Europe. I think they said Scotland or something like that."

"I thought it was a little strange for a castle like this to be in Japan," Ryouga muttered softly with obvious annoyance.

Ranma shook her head slightly, turning and starting to walk away. "Come on, I think one of the teachers here would be able to get you back to Japan." She stopped when she realized that he wasn't following her and turned around. There was nobody else there. She stared around for a long moment and sniffed the air to make sure she had not imagined the whole thing. The boy's scent was there, but his trail seemed to be only in a few feet of corridor. There was no other sign of him.

> > > > > > >

Some minutes after her encounter in the corridor, Ranma finally found the staff room. Looking inside, she saw her Auntie Min along with some other teachers. Darting in, she curled up on the couch beside her Aunt. "Auntie Min? Is it possible for someone to appear and disappear in the halls?"

Minerva looked down at her in confusion. "Do you mean apparation?"

Ranma tilted her head in confusion. "What's that?"

Minerva smiled slightly. "It's when a witch or wizard uses their magic to move from one place to another. I believe the muggles call it teleportation. It is usually accompanied by a loud cracking noise."

Ranma considered that for a long moment, but shook her head. "No, he didn't make any noise. I didn't realize he was there until I bumped into him."

Minerva frowned in confusion. "Him? You mean this actually happened?" By now, the room was silent as the other teachers listened. If someone could get into Hogwarts practically undetected, it could be really dangerous.

Ranma nodded. "I was exploring the halls when I met Dumbledore-san. We walked along and talked for a moment and then split up. I was walking down the halls alone and bumped into a well-built boy who was taller than me and wearing strange clothes. He also had a huge backpack."

Unnoticed, Dumbledore was standing in the doorway. He had come in just in time to hear Ranma explaining something that happened while she was walking. "Did you notice anything else strange about him, Ranma? What did he want?"

Ranma shrugged. "He asked if I could tell him where the Tendo Dojo in Nerima is. I told him he was in Europe and he looked annoyed, but not very surprised." She paused for a moment. "He was speaking Japanese and I think he had fangs."

"Ah." Dumbledore nodded in comprehension. "Now I know. Was his name Ryouga Hibiki?" Ranma nodded. "He is a young man I have met once or twice. I believe he has a family curse of some kind. I would have helped him, but whenever I turn my back on him he seems to disappear."

Ranma frowned softly and looked like she was trying to remember something. "Lost Boy," she murmured at last. "He was able to get lost in a room with only one door. Sometimes he disappeared for a while and when he came back, it was obvious he had been traveling."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at her. "You know him?"

Ranma shook her head slightly. "I knew him once," she answered absently. "Used to lead him to school sometimes. I wasn't very good at making friends, so we fought a lot. Hmm." She got up and wandered out the door. The teachers looked after curiously, but no one tried to follow. They understood that the cat-girl needed her space.

> > > > > > >

AN: Okay. Some people have been asking for longer chapters. Unfortunately, I stop where I think it sounds good. In this case, I even went a little farther than I was going to. I wasn't going to develop the scened with Ryouga much beyond Ranma bumping into him, absently apologizing and walking on. Ryouga would say it was nothing and Ranma would suddenly stop and turn around, realizing that there is something wrong. I decided to develop it a bit farther.

As you can tell, I didn't have him nearly as enraged about everything as some writers do. I have no idea if he will be as calm once he finds out who Ranma is. My stories are as much a surprise to you before I have them written, and sometimes they still surprise me when I actually do write them. It's just the way it goes.

Anyway, somebody asked if 'Auntie Min' is the one who will help Ranma. She will help him in many ways, not the least being that she will help him with his education. I don't know if I will make Ranma a witch/wizard, but I might. You never know.

P.S. Malfoy gets humiliated next chapter.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Does anyone really read these things? Fine. I don't own Harry Potter or Ranma 1/2. Though Ranma would be fun to have around...

Chapter 5

Ranma was wandering the halls once more, trying to sort out her thoughts. Dumbledore had approached her earlier with a somewhat unusual offer.

**Flashback **

Ranma had been practicing on the Quidditch pitch for some time now. She sensed Dumbledore coming within range of her senses several minutes ago, so she decided to see what he wanted to talk to her about.

Dumbledore had been thinking of adding a new course to the curriculum, even though the beginning of the school year had been almost a month ago. He thought that it would be a good addition and gave young Ranma something to do.

Albus had asked Minerva where her young charge might be. She had told him to try the Quidditch pitch. At the time, he had wondered at the proud look in her eyes, but had not asked. Now he knew why she had seemed so proud. Ranma was practicing in some kind of Martial Art, and he found the performance breathtaking. Especially since she had been out here for some time and was barely breathing hard.

Ranma finally brought her kata to a halt and bowed slightly to her shadow opponent. Then she calmly turned and looked questioningly at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore shook himself slightly to get rid of the trance he seemed to have fallen in while he watched the girl practice. "Hello, Ranma. I was just wondering if you wanted to have something to do while you are here at Hogwarts."

Ranma tilted her head in question, her ears perking forward slightly in interest as she considered his words. "What do you mean?"

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "Would you be willing to teach a physical defense class?"

**End**** Fla****shback**

Ranma smiled to herself. She knew that the shocked look she had given him amused Dumbledore-san quite a bit. After thinking about it for a moment, she had told him that she would be willing to teach some of the basics, but she had no license to teach her family style. Once she had explained what she meant by 'the basics' he had been more than satisfied to let her stick with them.

Ranma shook her head softly. 'They take me in, teach me, and now ask if I would like to teach something I love. What could I say but 'yes'?'

As Ranma thought her idle thoughts, she heard muttering coming from a pissed off male. Not wanting to get involved in something that was none of her business, she calmly jumped up and clung to the ceiling. Below her, a blond head of hair passed by.

Draco Malfoy was not in a good mood. "Stupid bitch, couldn't she mind her own business? Probably would have let it slide if it was 'Perfect Potter' or one of the other Gryffindors, but _no_ she had to give me a detention. Malfoy's don't get detention." He sneered angrily. "Stupid bitch of a Transfiguration teacher."

Above him, Ranma's eyes narrowed angrily. As soon as she realized that Malfoy was talking about a female Gryffindor teacher, she had been suspicious. Once she realized that Malfoy was talking about the person she had thought he was talking about, she had downgraded to royally pissed. With barely a thought, she was on the floor and had Malfoy pinned.

One minute Draco was walking along, quietly ranting about a certain teacher, and the next he found himself pinned flat on his back with a small redhead perched on top of him. He had time to note that she looked incredibly angry before she spoke.

"You really shouldn't have called Auntie Min a bitch. I might have let you go on just about any other count, but not that one." Ranma snarled angrily. "She is no _dog_, you idiot. She is a _cat_. Get it right."

Once he got over his surprise, Draco was thoroughly annoyed. Who did she think she was? "What makes you think I care? It's not like you can do anything to me." As soon as he said those words, he knew it was a bad idea. A look of almost unholy glee lit the redhead's face.

Ranma smiled a rather nasty smile. "I can't do anything? How about I humiliate you so bad, people will still talk about it after you graduate?" She enjoyed the horrified look on his face for a moment before he buried it. She lifted one hand and let him watch as she formed her chi claws that she had gained when she received full control of the Neko-ken.

Draco stared as he watched blue claws seem to form at the tips of the redhead's fingers. He was trying to figure out what spell she could have possibly used when she suddenly slashed at him. He couldn't completely suppress his flinch, but he realized a moment later that nothing seemed to have happened. "What was that? Some lighting affect?" he asked derisively

Ranma smirked down at him and calmly stood. Malfoy climbed to his feet as soon as she was off of him. "Don't worry, Malfoy. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough."

Draco was confused, though he tried not to show it. Then he realized that he felt a breeze. Eyes wide, he looked down at himself.

Ranma studied him for a long moment. "Hmm. Good thing you wear underwear. Some of the younger years could have been scarred for life." She turned and walked away without another word, grinning evilly.

Draco just continued to stare down at himself. There wasn't a mark on him, but his clothing was in shreds. As the girl had noted, she left him his underwear. Draco looked down at where the scraps of his clothing lay. "She didn't even leave me a big enough scrap to have some dignity!"

Around the corner, pressed against the wall, Ranma was trying hard to control her laughter. Soon after she had arrived, she had noted that Hogwarts was alive in some sense. She had also noted that Hogwarts had a rather wicked sense of humor, and she was more than happy to help Ranma. Draco would have no choice but to head towards more populated parts of the castle if he wanted to get to his dorms and a new set of clothing.

Ranma waited until she was sure Malfoy was gone before she spoke. "That was perrrfect. I can't wait to work with you again." Ranma felt a vague sense of pleasure coming from the castle itself.

> > > > > > >

Harry was walking down the halls, lost in thought, when he accidentally bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry," he muttered, not looking up.

"Watch it, Potter!" Draco snapped angrily.

Harry's head snapped up in surprise as he realized that his rival was the one he bumped into. It took a moment for him to realize what was strange about the blond, but he soon realized that Malfoy was blushing slightly as he stalked past. Harry turned to look and stared as he realized that Malfoy was wearing nothing but a pair of black silk boxers with silver dragons.

Ron and Hermione came up behind Harry and were startled to realize that he didn't seem to notice them. Harry always seemed to notice when somebody got near him. Ron looked at Hermione in confusion. Hermione could only shrug.

Ron shrugged and came around to wave a hand in front of Harry's face. "Harry? You there, mate?"

Harry finally seemed to realize that they were there and he jerked back to life, grinning. "I don't know who did it or why, but Malfoy just walked past in his boxers."

Ron stared. "Malfoy was in his boxers! Why? Who should I congratulate for a prank like that?"

Hermione was obviously trying to keep her laughter under control and not doing a very good job of it. "My q-question, is why he was h-h-here?" At that point, she lost control and simply laughed, not trying to speak.

A new voice came up from the direction Malfoy had come. "Oh, Hogwarts has a rather strange sense of humor." Ranma smirked in satisfaction. "But this is better than I hoped."

Ron stared at the cat-girl. "You mean you did that?" He grinned widely. "How many people have seen him so far? Was one of them Colin Creevey? The boy who always carries a camera?" That was too much for Harry, and he joined Hermione on the floor, laughing too hard to speak.

Ranma considered. " Camera-boy? Maybe. I haven't seen him, but Malfoy has been out of my sight for some minutes." She sighed. "You know, I almost decided to drag him out and hang him in the Great Hall, but it would have been a little strange to drag Malfoy there when he didn't have any clothes. Not to mention, he is bigger than I am."

Hermione and Harry finally started to wind down in their laughter, but all three in the trio were still incredibly amused. Finally, Hermione asked. "Why did you do that anyway? You don't seem the type to do something like that without reason."

Ranma snarled softly. "Little bastard called Auntie Min a bitch." She smiled a rather evil smile. "I made sure he knew better than to do it again."

The trio were all surprised as they looked at the still angry cat-girl. They all made a mental note not to insult those Ranma cared about. They were sure they wouldn't like the consequences.

> > > > > > >

AN: I know some people were asking for Malfoy humiliation. bows slightly I hope that was good enough? Someone was wondering about Ranma cursing Malfoy with Jusenkyo water, but that would give away more than I'm willing to right at the moment. Especially to the staff at Hogwarts. Besides, there would probably be a good chance people either wouldn't recognize him--defeating the point of the prank--or not be able to tell the difference. Which would be worst? I have to wonder.

And now, review responses.

**Goku90504:** I have no idea if Ryouga is cursed to be a pig anymore, or not. We may or may not find out in the future, but as far as this story goes, I honestly haven't got a clue. Ryouga just kind of wandered into this story the way he always seems to wander. As for him looking for the Tendo Dojo, for all I know he is friends with the girls. Like I said, I haven't got a clue. I think I mostly put it in there because it is almost a trademark phrase for him.

**Bobboky:** (sarcastically) You always seem to give me these nice long reviews! They are such an ego boost!

**borg rabbit:** Thanks. As for the prophetic abilities, I'm guessing you're talking about when Ranma first met Harry. To be honest, I haven't got a clue. That was just something I thought Harry needed to hear. To be honest, it is also what started a good portion of this story off. Once it was kicked off, it just kind of kept going.

**Dragon Man 180:** As you can tell, Malfoy humiliation delivered. And in front of his rival no less! Hogwarts has a wicked sense of humor. Mostly because Hogwarts has _my_ sense of humor, but oh well. Harry is not the only one who will be Ranma's friend. The trio will also be included in her (his) circle of friends. I don't know who else will be.

**Poly:** As far as what year? I don't know. It's after third year though, so I think I'll call it an AU fifth year. I like Sirius and refused to read the fifth book when I found out JKR killed him off. Silly I know, but oh well. -shrug- I tend to keep my grudges.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Should I even bother? It's not like anyone even reads these. I could say that I own exclusive rights to Ranma 1/2 and Harry Potter and nobody would care. -notices lawyers coming- Okay, maybe somebody _would_ care. Fine. I don't own Ranma 1/2 or Harry Potter.

Warning: I'll probably be yelled at if I don't include this, and I don't feel like putting up with that. There will be slight SB/RL in this chapter. Nothing actually happens, but they do make it quite clear that they are mates.

Chapter 6

Ranma decided to go talk to Dumbledore. She had decided that she would enjoy teaching some of the more basic martial arts moves to the students of Hogwarts.

Ranma shook her head and made her way to the gargoyle she had learned hid the way to Dumbledore's office. She rolled her eyes slightly as she said the password—Skittles—and walked up the stairs to his office. She didn't find anyone in there, but she didn't mind. Dumbledore would be back soon, and he probably wouldn't mind her looking around his office.

Remus and Sirius walked into Dumbledore's office and were surprised to find someone they did not know. Luckily, Sirius was still in his dog form so he was in no danger of being discovered. Unluckily, the strange girl seemed to realize that there was something strange. Remus was startled to realize that she looked like she was about half transformed into a cat.

Ranma looked up as a man and a dog came in. She was surprised to realize that neither seemed to be exactly as they looked. It wasn't something she could put her finger on until she switched to the aural sight that she had gained as a cat. She was startled when she realized that the man was a werewolf and the dog a man.

Remus was slightly nervous when the strange girl got up and walked toward him. He did not show it outwardly, but she seemed to notice. She smiled slightly and spoke for the first time.

"No need to be nerrrrvous. I will not hurrrrt you." Ranma realized that her voice made it sound like she was purring slightly. She frowned slightly, but shrugged when she realized there was nothing she could do about it.

Remus was startled by both the sound of her voice and the fact that she noticed he was nervous. He had learned how to keep his emotions from his face a long time ago.

She came up closer. "You arrre a werrrrewolf, rrright?"

Remus couldn't control his start. Beside him, Sirius started to growl.

Ranma nodded. "It is in yourrr aurrra." She turned calmly to Sirius. "I will not harrrm him. I might be able to help." She paused and calmly looked at him as he continued to growl distrustfully. "You can change back now. I don't mind." That stopped him in mid-growl and he stared at her, startled.

Ranma had already turned back to Remus by now. She studied him for a moment before abruptly grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the doorway. He was startled again by the strength in her grip. Behind him, Dumbledore and McGonagall came in. If they were surprised by what they saw, neither showed it.

Ranma turned back to McGonagall and paused a moment, blinking. She had forgotten that she had been using her aural sight. As a result, she was nearly blinded when she glanced at Dumbledore. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes.

McGonagall was slightly worried. "Are you alright, Ranma?"

Ranma nodded. "Fine. I was blinded forrr a moment. I should know better than to look at Dumbledorrrre with aurrral sight."

Sirius was watching all this with interest. Obviously both Dumbledore and McGonagall trusted this girl—Ranma? He stepped forward cautiously and Ranma turned to look at him. He was caught by surprise when she dropped down to his level and sniffed noses with him. He was even more surprised when she rubbed her head against his in an absently feline way and went over to Remus. She calmly stood on tiptoes so she could reach and gave him the same treatment, rubbing her head against his neck, as that was as high as she could reach.

Both males were startled by the treatment, and turned to McGonagall and Dumbledore for explanations. The two were obviously amused. Glaring did not help. They were even more amused by the sight of the dog and werewolf glaring almost in unison. McGonagall spoke first.

"I see you two have met Ranma. She tends to leave an impression." Ranma looked slightly annoyed at that. "You can change back, Sirius. I imagine Ranma already knows."

Ranma blinked in surprise and watched as the dog changed to a man. Then her eyes widened in realization. "Ah! Sirrrius. I was wondering when I'd meet you. Harrry spoke of you beforrre." She looked over at Remus. "And you arrre Rrremus Lupin? Harrry also speaks of you. He often wishes he could help."

Remus blinked. "What do you mean by help? Harry doesn't owe me anything."

Ranma laughed at that. "He must be embarrassed." She paused. "Oh. I forrrgot." Now she looked embarrassed. "I forget when he wants to tell me sssomething and when I overrhearr." Her ears and tail drooped. "I hope he won't be mad at me. I didn't mean to."

McGonagall smiled slightly. "He will probably be angry for a while, but if you explain it, he should forgive you." She gently scratched behind Ranma's ears as she spoke. Ranma leaned happily into the touch. Then her ears twitched as she pulled away slightly. McGonagall stopped scratching and pulled back just as the door opened again. Sirius was once more a dog.

Ranma bounded forward happily. "Ooh! Harrry!" She pulled him in by the arm. He was somewhat startled by her exuberance. Before he could say anything, she spoke again. "Look! Yourr Godfather's here. You didn't tell me he was a dog." She looked at him a little reproachfully. "You should know I wouldn't say anything!"

Harry was looking a little overwhelmed by all this. He looked over at Dumbledore, but before he could speak, he saw Remus and Sirius. "Moony! Padfoot! What are you two here for?"

Remus smiled. "We don't know. Dumbledore called us in," he answered as he looked over at the man in question.

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "I thought you might want to meet the most interesting new person here. After all, you should know who you're working with." He paused. "That is, if you are willing to come back as the DADA teacher."

Remus stared at Dumbledore for a long moment, mouth agape. "But what about the teacher you have?"

Albus suppressed his wince, but only just barely. "It seems the man I hired is unable to teach here."

Harry snickered softly behind Remus, and Remus turned and frowned at him. "What is it, Pronglet?"

Harry smiled softly. "Oh, nothing. It's just that between the Weasley twins and the Slytherins, the poor guy left screaming about a week ago." He paused at Remus's disbelieving look. "Literally."

Remus turned and looked at Albus, who sighed but nodded in agreement with Harry's words. Remus sighed and pushed his hair back. "Alright, but what about me being a werewolf? Won't you have trouble about that?"

Ranma was the one who answered that. "I may be able to help with that somewhat."

Remus frowned in confusion as he looked at her. "What do you mean?"

Ranma walked forward as she answered. "You have an affliction in yourrr aurrra. Did you know about the wolf at yourrr shoulderrr?"

Remus was once more startled. "What are you talking about?"

Ranma nodded. "So you don't know. Prrobably unsurprrising. Not many can see it." She was within three feet of him. "I think it is what marrrks you as a werrrewolf." Her hands suddenly shot up and seemed to wrap around the air in front of his left shoulder. Remus jerked in surprise. Ranma looked at him briefly. "Hold still. This is somewhat delicate work."

Sirius came up behind Remus and wrapped an arm around his waist protectively. "What are you doing?"

Ranma smiled a little grimly. "I am trrying to help. Your affliction is unnaturral. I might be able to put it under yourrrr contrrrol." She looked sad for a moment. "I have some experrrience with currrses."

Remus nodded slightly. He could tell she was telling the truth. He braced himself slightly. "What are you trying to do? Should I be expecting anything?"

Ranma nodded. "I am trrying to make you a wolf insstead of a werrrewolf. You've had it too long for me to take it away from you and I don't think that is what you want anyway." She paused. "This may hurrrt."

With no more warning, Ranma wrenched at whatever she was holding. Remus gasped softly in surprise. She looked at him, but did not stop. A moment later, she seemed satisfied and Remus was sagging back against Sirius. Ranma paused for a moment to let him catch his breath. When he had, she moved one hand and concentrated. Before long, bluish 'claws' appeared at the end of her fingertips on her right hand. Without pause, she calmly began to trace something several inches from his shoulder. Only Remus and Sirius knew that she was tracing where Remus's scars were. When she was done, there was some blood leaking through his shirt. Ranma didn't seem surprised, so Sirius merely kept an eye on her.

Ranma looked at the wolf that she had wrenched away from where the scars were. It had calmed slightly when she had moved it, but still looked more than willing to take her hand off if she let it. After she traced the scars to release the poison it was mostly docile, though it didn't seem to trust her. She smiled slightly, careful not to show her teeth. Then she gently pulled it over once more until it was over Remus's heart. There, she released it. It watched her for a moment before seeming to realize what she was asking. It's head tilted back and it howled as she reached out once more and gently pushed it down. It merged with Remus's aura completely. For a moment, everyone could see the suggestion of a wolf's shape around Remus.

Suddenly both Remus and Ranma collapsed in exhaustion. Sirius was still holding Remus and tightened his grip almost instinctively as Remus went limp. McGonagall had come up behind Ranma while she was working and managed to catch the girl. Unlike Remus, she stayed conscious for a moment, looking at him. When she was satisfied, she gave into the call of her exhaustion.

McGonagall gently gathered the girl up and transfigured a couch to put her on. She made another for Remus. Sirius set him down and changed back to a dog, watching him. He was satisfied after a moment and walked over to Ranma. After a moment, he changed back to human. "Whatever she did exhausted the both of them, but they seem fine otherwise." With that, he turned back to Remus and gently opened his shirt. The ugly scars that had been Remus's since he was bitten were gone. A small amount of blood still decorated his skin, but there were no other marks. He started to close Remus's shirt when he noticed something else. There was some kind of tattoo of a howling wolf over his heart.

> > > > > > >

Sometime later, Remus was the first to stir. Sirius was by his side almost immediately. Remus shook his head slightly. There was something strange that he couldn't pinpoint. Before he could figure it out, Ranma started to stir. She sat up slightly and yawned, showing off long, sharp teeth. She looked around and saw everyone staring at her.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked it calmly, even though she was trembling ever so slightly. She did not like being the center of attention, especially not after she had just exhibited one of the unusual abilities she had gained.

Remus was the only one who noticed her trembling, but he didn't mention it. "What did you do? I feel…different somehow." He blinked as he realized something. "You're talking normally."

Ranma smiled at the surprise in his voice. "My nature seems to fluctuate slightly from day to day. Some days I am more cat-like, some days I am more human." Her smile grew slightly strained. "As for what I did to you, well…" Her smile turned somewhat sheepish. "It's hard to explain, but basically I healed a part of your aura. You are no longer a werewolf."

Remus blinked. Twice. "I'm not a werewolf anymore? How?"

Ranma's face became more solemn. "When a werewolf bites a human, it leaves some nasty scars from the wounds inflicted that never really heal all the way, right?" Remus nodded. "What most people don't know is that the scars aren't just physical. They also affect your aura. There is a kind of poison trapped there. It is what causes the changes and is also why the change is tied to the moon."

Remus nodded. It did make sense. "How do you know all this? And what does it have to do with what you did earlier?"

Ranma smiled again. "Part of what I know is instinctual, and the rest of it is from the books in the library. I looked up lyncanthropy a few days ago. That and someone I met some months ago in China taught me some things as well." Her smile widened. "All I did was release the poison. If you look, you should not have the scars any longer."

Remus was startled and glanced over at Sirius, who nodded. "I checked earlier because I wanted to know why you were bleeding slightly. The scars are gone." He glanced over at Ranma. "There was something odd, though. It looks like you have a tattoo of a howling wolf over your heart."

Remus blinked in surprise. "There is?" Sirius nodded and Remus unbuttoned his shirt slightly. He looked down and found that the scars were indeed gone. He was slightly surprised by the tattoo looking thing over his heart. "Why is that there?" he asked looking at Ranma as he buttoned his shirt once more.

Ranma smiled a little grimly. "You were a werewolf for too long, so I couldn't remove the wolf completely. It was half sunk into your aura and trying to remove it would have likely killed you. All I could do was release the poison that made it feral and help it to merge completely."

She watched him for a moment as he digested this. Then, she abruptly fired off questions. "What is Sirius to you?"

Remus answered without thinking. "He's my mate."

Ranma nodded. "What is Harry?" Harry jerked slightly at hearing his name, but did not say anything.

Remus stared at Ranma. "Harry is James's son." There was an odd tone of wistfulness in his voice that seemed to belie his words.

Ranma shook her head. "Not that. Don't think, just answer the question. What is Harry to you?" Harry was staring at her now, but she ignored it.

Remus didn't think about it that time, he just answered. "Harry is the only cub of my pack, but my pack is only Sirius and Harry now. Two members died and another betrayed the whole pack with his actions."

Sirius hugged Remus gently. He knew what Remus was talking about. He was slightly startled when Ranma turned her gaze on him.

Ranma smiled slightly. "What is Remus to you, Sirius?"

Sirius blinked but answered. "My mate."

Ranma smiled. "What was James to you?"

"He was my brother in all except birth." Sirius was startled to realize that it was the truth.

Ranma's smile widened slightly. "What was Lily to you?"

"She was like a sister."

Ranma nodded. "What is Harry to you?"

Sirius stared and answered without thinking. "He's like a nephew to me."

Ranma was grinning now, and Harry was looking more than a little shocked. "Why did you say James was your brother 'in all except birth'?"

Sirius blinked. "We performed a spell to make us blood brothers."

Ranma grinned and turned to Dumbledore, who for once was caught off guard. "Why does Harry have to stay at the Dursley's?"

Dumbledore blinked. "They are his only—" He stopped in surprise.

Ranma grinned happily. "Would a blood-brother count?"

For one of the few times in his life, Dumbledore was absolutely floored. "yes" he admitted in a soft whisper.

Ranma grinned and turned to Sirius and Remus. Harry had sat down next to them, looking as if he would have collapsed on the floor if he hadn't. Sirius was staring at her. "What?" she asked, confused.

"How did you know that? We never told anyone except Moony, and that was because he noticed the difference in our scents." Sirius was obviously trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he was technically related to Harry.

"You and Harry have similar scents, all right. I'd guess you two performed this spell before he was born?" Sirius nodded. "You smell alike enough that you could have naturally been Harry's uncle."

> > > > > > >

AN: Okay. Don't expect me to do this all the time, but I decided that since I had a chapter ready, I might as well put it up. I sorta half-lied before when I said that I posted all the chapters I had pre-written. The truth is that I posted the chapters that were pre-written up to that point in the story. I've basically got a lot of stuff written, but the story is not ready for all of it to be posted.

Besides that, this is a somewhat longer chapter than normal. That happens. Basically I had more I could put in this chapter. It won't always happen, but some chapters will be longer than others. I have said that my writing and my mind are random after all. I'd also better explain a couple things befor someone starts asking about it. The two members who died were James and Lily. I figure that marriage to someone who is part of Remus's pack would count. Everybody should know that Wormtail is the betrayer. And about the blood relatives thing. As far as I know, Dumbledore never actually _said_ that they had to be his mother's blood relatives. If he did and I missed it, oh well. It's already AU and I'm not changing that point in the story.

One last thing before the review responses. I went back and edited the last chapter a little. Nothing really important, but one thing is that Malfoy's boxers now have dragons on them, as someone pointed out that that would be more embarrassing than plain boxers.

And now, review responses.

**Thunderstorm101**: As you can tell, I am not going to try to deal with the toad-bitch. I may not have read the fifth book, but some of the fanfiction about it makes it quite clear enough for me. Instead I chose a nobody who couldn't take it anymore. As Harry said, The poor guy left screaming. Literally. So I chose to bring back Remus. As you can tell, now no one can object and I like his character too much to _not_ give the guy control, even though it could be considered a little cliched.

**Choas Babe**: I'd love to, but I'm not entirely sure how I could manage. Though, there is a slight twist later in the story that might open the opportunity for it. Hmmm...

**Rubberneck**: I like that idea. I might use it later on, because Ranma does eventually reveal his birth form. Hmmm...

**Dragon Man 180**: I took your review into consideration and changed the last chapter slightly. Draco is now walking along in black silk boxers with dragons on them. -bows- Thanks for the idea. It gave me a good case of the giggles.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Several months earlier, in Japan…

Genma had arrived in Nerima without his son. It was about a month after Jusenkyo. At first, he had thought about trying to find him, but he soon realized that Ranma had looked ready to kill him the last time he had seen the boy. In his cowardly mind, he realized that he couldn't go back to his wife, so he would have to consider other options.

After looking through his pack, he found something he had forgotten completely. It was a contract made some time ago with his friend Tendo Soun. Suddenly, he had a destination.

Unfortunately, when he was almost there, it had started to rain and he didn't have an umbrella. He grumbled and adjusted his pack for his larger frame, before going on.

At the Tendo home, Soun wept with happiness (as opposed to weeping with some other emotion). His friend Genma was coming! 'Oh, happy day! I'll have to tell the girls.' With that in mind, he started to look for his three daughters. Once he found them all, he explained about how he and Genma had made an agreement to join the schools years before. The results were predictable.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" Soun was almost blasted straight out of the house with the yell. Surprisingly, all three girls had participated.

Nabiki was the first to speak and the other two decided to just back her up. "Are you telling us that you engaged one of us to be married before we were born, and you're just now telling us? Do you even know what he's like?" She spoke in a soft but deadly voice and Soun wondered if he should check for frostbite.

Soun was sweating nervously and trying to escape the questions, but the glares from Akane, Nabiki, and even Kasumi made him want to check for fires forming on his clothes. "um, no?" he offered in a very small voice.

Kasumi beat her sisters this time. "No, what? Are you trying to tell us you've never met the boy you wanted to engage us to?" The question was asked in a very calm voice, but Soun knew better than to think that mattered. Just like her mother, Kasumi's voice got quietest when she was most angry.

Before Soun could think of an answer that wouldn't make his daughters even angrier than they were, the doorbell rang. In a very sweet voice, Kasumi spoke. "I'll get that, Father. You stay here. I'll be right back." He twitched, but did as he was told. He pitied whoever happened to have rung the bell. Her temper could be worse than either of her two sisters when something truly set her off.

Kasumi came back a little later, a confused expression on her face and a panda following her. "Father, this panda is asking for hot water."

Soun was confused, but decided to go along with the odd request. "Well, why don't you give it some? I don't know why a panda would be asking for hot water though."

Kasumi shrugged but went to get the water. It was a rather small request, anyway. She came back a moment later with a kettle and handed it to the panda. The panda nodded at her and poured the water over its head. A moment later, a fat man stood there. "Thank you for the water. Are you Kasumi?" Kasumi stood there absolutely still for a moment. She soon keeled over without a word.

Akane was finally broken out of her stupor and managed to catch her sister before she hit the ground. She gently pulled her over by Nabiki before turning to the panda/man who had caused this. "What did you do to my sister!" Before he could answer, Genma found himself thrown out the door and straight into the koi pond in the backyard. He turned into a panda once more. The whole Tendo family keeled over without a word at the sight.

> > > > > > >

Sometime later, Soun woke up and looked around, wondering what had happened. He saw a man sitting at the table and eating the dinner the Tendo family had been planning on eating before Soun had dropped his bombshell. "Saotome? Is that you?"

Genma looked up from his eating and quickly swallowed before he responded. "Tendo! It's so good to see you after so long! You'll have to excuse me, I've been training the boy for so long. Then the ungrateful wretch ran off! I haven't seen him for a month."

The three sisters were awake by now and staring in disgust as the man who seemed to be Genma Saotome devoured the meal that had been set out for the four of them. Then what he said seemed to sink in. "What do you mean, you haven't seen him for a month! What kind of father are you?" Nabiki demanded.

Genma immediately stopped eating and went into his sob story concerning Jusenkyo. After he was done, Soun decided to confirm it. "So you turn into a panda with cold water and back to human with hot water. Your son is female with cold and male with hot, but has cat-like physical features in both forms. That's not so bad! We'll just have to find him. Then he can marry one of my daughters." Said daughters twitched but didn't say anything otherwise. They knew better than to try to reason with their father when he was like this. With the support of this man, Genma, he would be impossible to budge from his position.

> > > > > > >

At Hogwarts…

About a month before she would have been able to change freely, Ranma heard some strange rumors. She decided to find the Trio to see if they knew what was going on.

Hermione snorted softly. "I heard from Lavender that we got some visitors earlier. Something about a small wrinkled creature hopping around on a cane and a girl our age with purple hair." She rolled her eyes. "Near as I can tell, she thought it was the truth."

Ranma's eyes widened in pure surprise as she stared at Hermione. The bushy-haired girl was about to ask if there was something wrong when Ranma practically pounced on her. "Do you know where they would have been taken?"

Hermione stared at her for a moment, but decided to ask later. "Whoever it was, they would probably be with Dumbledore."

Ranma grinned happily, giving all three of them a good view of her sharp teeth. "Thanks! I'll explain later!" Without another word, she was gone, leaving the Trio to stare after her.

Finally, Ron broke the silence. "Anybody have a clue what that was about?"

Hermione just shook her head, but Harry answered. "Well, she obviously knew whoever it was. She also seemed really happy to hear that they were here."

Hermione shook herself suddenly. "Does that mean that the visitors really _were_ a small wrinkled creature on a cane and a girl with purple hair?" Harry and Ron could only shrug.

> > > > > > >

Some ways away, Ranma almost skidded past the gargoyle that hid Dumbledore's office. She dug her claws into the stone as she skidded to a halt, and absently swished her tail over the grooves left as she eagerly walked back to the gargoyle. The grooves disappeared as if they had never been. "M&Ms," she told the gargoyle. It leapt aside and she walked up the revealed staircase.

Near the top, Ranma heard the voices of Dumbledore and an old woman that she recognized. Without hesitation, she knocked on the door.

Kuh Lon looked up as she sensed a familiar aura coming closer. A knock resounded from the door and she chuckled. "At least she learned to knock."

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "Come in, Ranma." He turned to Kuh lon. "What do you mean?"

Before Kuh Lon could answer, Ranma came in with a cry of "Old Ghoul! When did you get here?"

Kuh Lon rolled her eyes and bopped Ranma on the head while Xian Pu giggled softly. "Learn to respect your elders, child."

Ranma snorted softly. "Genma is my elder. Doesn't mean I'll ever respect him."

Xian Pu smiled and stepped forward to give the girl a hug. "Is difference there. Old panda no deserve _anyone's_ respect."

Ranma snickered softly as she hugged her friend back. "True, but you know me." She turned to Kuh Lon when she was released and dipped into a bow. "Hello Elder Kuh Lon. It is good to see you again." Her eyes were slightly mocking, but her greeting was sincere.

Kuh Lon rolled her eyes, but was amused in spite of herself. "Hello Ranma. No need to be so formal."

Ranma grinned happily and stepped forward to hug the old woman. "Well, it's still good to see you again, Great-Grandmother."

Dumbledore cleared his throat slightly. "I take it you know, these two Ranma?"

Ranma grinned. "Yes, their village took me in a while ago when I really needed it. Grandmother Kuh Lon had me adopted into her family."

Xian Pu grinned in agreement. "Aiyah! Sister Ranma too too nice. She help me with Japanese and English."

Kuh Lon rolled her eyes in amusement. "Yes, Shampoo used to have much more trouble speaking Japanese and English. And Ranma was a blessing to have in my family."

Dumbledore smiled softly. "Ah, yes. Well, before we were interrupted, you said something about a potion you need help brewing?" He paused as he reached for a small dish. "Lemon drop?" They all shook their heads. "Then I am assuming you will want to speak to Severus Snape, our resident Potions Master."

Kuh Lon nodded slightly in agreement before glancing over to where Ranma and Shampoo were exploring all the nooks and crannies of Dumbledore's office. "Ranma? Have you met this Severus Snape?"

She noticed the girl's slightly blank look and smiled slightly. It was either an amusing quirk or an annoying flaw, but the girl didn't seem to remember people's names unless she didn't like them or knowing their name were important in some way. " Potions Master?"

Ranma's blankness instantly cleared. "Oh, Raven. Yes, I met him."

Kuh Lon smiled slightly. The fact that the girl had given him a nickname said a lot for him. She turned back to Dumbledore as if nothing had happened. "Yes, I think I will be speaking to your Potions Master."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "May I ask what that was about?"

Kuh Lon smiled slightly. "I wanted to find out how Ranma felt about your Potions Master. The fact that she forgot his name and gave him a nickname is a good sign."

Dumbledore raised the other eyebrow. From the look on the old woman's face, she wanted him to ask Ranma directly. "Ranma? Could you explain why you called Severus Raven?"

Ranma looked up in surprise. "Hmmm? Oh, sorry Bumblebee-san." Beside her, Xian Pu choked on air at the nickname. "I named Raven that because he reminds me of one. He's curious about things and will gather bright bits of information." She shrugged and turned back to the trinkets she was examining. "Besides, his nose reminds me of a beak."

Dumbledore almost choked on his Lemon Drop when he heard that, and there was a suspicious snickering sound coming from Kuh Lon. Kuh Lon shook her head. "Thank you, Ranma. Would you take Xian Pu with you to explore the castle? I'm sure you two would like to catch up."

Ranma grinned happily. "Thanks, Grandmother! Come on, Kitten, this place is really cool!" Ranma and Shampoo left together quickly, already chattering away in Chinese.

Dumbledore smiled slightly as he watched them go. "They seem happy together." He paused for a moment. "May I ask why Ranma called her 'kitten'?"

Kuh Lon smiled slightly. "I asked Ranma that after she first started calling her that. She said that Xian Pu had a feline soul but was too young to be a full-grown cat." She smiled slightly. "Since the child is half cat anyway, I decided that I believed her." She smirked slightly. "And before you ask, I asked her some time ago not to use my nickname. It revealed a little more than I am comfortable with when she explained it."

> > > > > > >

Meanwhile…

Xian Pu was happily chattering with her adoptive sister. "So how has it been, Ranma. You haven't sent very many letters lately."

Ranma winced slightly. "I'm sorry, Xian Pu, but the people use owls here, and I haven't been able to go buy one that was bred for long-distance travel. The few I have sent took a while to come back, and they seemed really tired."

Xian Pu shook her head. She knew by the use of her name instead of Ranma's nickname for her that the girl was sincerely sorry. "It's alright, Ranma. I don't mind, I just wanted to know." She slung an arm around her sister's shoulders. "Now, are you going to introduce me to your teacher and friends? I'd like to meet the ones you have deemed worthy."

Ranma laughed and shook her head, even though she knew that Xian Pu was right. She tended to be rather picky about choosing friends. "Alright, but I should warn you. My teacher, Auntie Min, is what these people call an animagus. She turns into a cat at will."

Xian Pu frowned slightly. "Do you mean like Jusenkyo?" she asked, fully knowing that her sister was also her brother.

Ranma shook her head. "No, she just kind of wills the change until she's a cat. She's teaching me so that I can be human or cat when I want. I'm not very good yet, but she says I'm learning."

Xian Pu nodded. "I'll have to ask her to show me. I am very curious about this strange magic." She paused for a moment. "What about your friends?"

Ranma smirked slightly. "They're known as the Gryffindor Trio." She paused at Xian Pu's confused expression. "The students are divided into four houses. Reader will be able to explain better."

Xian Pu nodded in understanding. "Is this Reader one of the trio?"

Ranma nodded. "Yes, she is the only female. Her other friends are boys. They're all about fifteen. The other two are a Fireheart and a combined Snakemind and Snaketongue."

Xian Pu considered this information for a long moment. "Let's see, you told me some of these. Fireheart is one that always has emotions burning like fire in their heart. They can make incredibly loyal friends and devoted enemies. Am I right so far?" Ranma smiled and nodded.

Xian Pu continued. "Snaketongue is an easy one. Serpent speaker." She didn't bother waiting for Ranma's nod of confirmation. "Snakemind. That one's tricky, but don't tell me. Let me figure it out." Ranma just nodded in agreement. After a moment, Xian Pu continued. "Alright. Snake's are usually considered cold, even though I imagine they would feel emotions. So…someone who can shove their emotions aside?"

Ranma nodded in agreement. "Snaketongue can push his emotions aside so he can think clearly without them distorting his judgment. It also means that if he was forced to do something like kill someone, he can shove his emotions back to do it. Unfortunately, by the time he let his emotions loose, he'd probably be a wreck after the first few times."

Xian Pu considered all this for a long moment. By now, the two girls were on the stairs heading toward wherever Ranma was taking her. She trusted her sister, so she hadn't felt like asking. "You didn't explain Reader."

Ranma blinked, surprised. "Huh. You're right, I didn't. Sorry. Well, anyway, she's something of a bookworm. That's not the only reason, but I don't want someone else to know about the rest because she doesn't know either."

Xian Pu nodded in agreement. "Alright. I won't push. But that doesn't mean I won't try to find out myself."

Ranma smirked slightly as they stopped in front of one of the paintings. "Fair enough. I still won't confirm or deny if you figure it out." Without waiting for an answer, she turned back to the painting and switched back to English. "Hello, Violet. Are the trio in?"

Violet smiled softly as she looked down at the redhead standing in front of her. "Hello, Ranma. Yes they are in. Who's your friend?"

Xian Pu blinked slightly. "Aiyah. Hello, miss painting lady. I am Shampoo." She concentrated for a moment. "Is good to meet you."

Violet smiled slightly. Well, the girl was polite, though she had obviously never dealt with moving portraits before. "Hello, Shampoo. My name is Violet."

Ranma smiled slightly. "Thank you, Violet. Sunrise glory."

Violet smiled and responded even as she swung her frame forward. "You're welcome, Ranma. It will be nice to speak to you again."

> > > > > > >

Inside Gryffindor tower, the trio were still trying to figure out what was with Ranma when they heard the portrait open and a strange voice.

Shampoo looked around in surprise. "Aiyah! Is comfy room behind portrait lady."

Ranma grinned happily. "Yeah. You probably won't be able to get in here on your own, but you might. I'm not sure how Violet would react." She flicked an ear and looked up when the trio came over. "Hello Snaketongue, Reader, and Fireheart. I did tell you I'd explain later."

Shampoo rolled her eyes. "Aiyah. First you introduce. Is polite."

Ranma laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, Kitten. I forgot." She turned back to the confused trio. "Guys, this is Xian Pu. Xian Pu, these are Snaketongue, Reader, and Fireheart." Ranma indicated each in turn as she introduced them.

Xian Pu smiled indulgently. "Now what are _real_ names?"

Hermione smiled slightly. "It's alright, Shampoo. I don't mind introducing myself."

Xian Pu smiled slightly. "Reader girl smart, but not understand. I ask Ranma, then we explain, yes?"

Ranma rolled her eyes. "Alright, you got me. Xian Pu, these are Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter."

Xian Pu smiled in satisfaction. "Is good. Now we explain."

Ranma rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I don't mind explaining. I just wanted them to ask first."

Xian Pu rolled her eyes right back. "If wait to ask, they never ask right question."

Harry spoke up now. "Ranma, if you always call us by your nicknames for us, why did you remember our real names but not the names of some other people?"

Xian Pu stared at him for a long moment. "I wrong. Snake boy ask right question."

Ranma laughed happily. "Great!" She turned to Harry. "I don't know if you know it, but you've done something few people would have thought possible. You just gained some respect from a Chinese Amazon."

The trio stared once more, and Ron looked between the two girls as he tried to figure out what was going on. Then Shampoo sighed. "Is true. You gain respect when not Amazon and male. Is hard thing."

Hermione blinked. "Wait, you said Amazon. Do you mean like the ones in Greek myth?"

Ranma considered the question for a long moment. "Not quite. Shampoo is a Chinese Amazon. Her village is in a remote part of China. Almost all of the women there are extremely strong martial artists."

Shampoo nodded. "Is true. Many also healers."

Ranma nodded in turn. By now, all five of them were seated on the couches and the Trio was obviously fascinated. "Yeah, the males are considered second-class citizens. Most of them are little more than servants. Very few males have any martial arts skills at all, and even fewer have significant skills."

Shampoo nodded again in agreement. "Is too too true. Only one really have good skills, but is almost blind. Also…" She trailed off. "No know word." She turned to look at Ranma. "Blind duck boy."

Ranma grimaced as she realized who she was talking about. "Ah yes. Mousse." She turned back to the trio, who were more than a little surprised. Ranma rarely talked about anyone with that much distaste. The only other time she had looked like that, Hermione had made the mistake of asking about her family. That topic had since been filed under "Forbidden".

Ranma sighed, but decided to explain. "Mousse is a boy with a talent for something called 'Hidden Weapons'. It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Anyway, he is obsessed with Shampoo and blind as a bat. I'm not kidding, I think his glasses are thick enough to be bullet-proof." Beside her, Shampoo snickered softly, nodding in agreement. "Correction, I _know_ they are bulletproof. I've seen the stupid things stop bullets before."

Hermione shook her head slightly. "How can glasses be that thick? He'd almost literally have to be blind to need something like that."

Ranma gave her a dry look. "Shampoo called him 'blind duck-boy' for a reason." She paused and turned back to Shampoo. "Wait a minute, duck-boy?"

Shampoo sighed but nodded slightly. "Yes, he duck-boy. Part Shampoo fault, but Great-Grandmother just laugh when I tell."

Ranma stared. "You punted him so far out of the village that he landed in the springs?"

The trio were staring in confusion, trying to figure out what that was all about. Shampoo simply smirked and shook her head slightly before explaining. "Not quite. Duck-boy follow patrol. I punt him into springs from much closer."

Ranma grinned. "Give me a minute to savor this." She paused and grinned happily. "Did he happen to run into the Musk?" Shampoo shook her head. "Darn. That would have been funny."

> > > > > > >

AN: I had fun with this chapter. Obviously, I finally got around to telling about a bit of what happened in Nerima. Sorry for those who wondered what was going on, but I didn't really have a good place for that scene before. Or rather, I probably could have put it in earlier, but I saw no point in having to re-do one of my chapters just to add that little scene. -shrug- It's not really important, except for the fact that there _will_ be appearances from some of the characters in Nerima.

To be frank, I don't particularly like Akane. Also, I have no intention of making this a romance anyway. So for those diehard Ranma/Akane fans, it probably won't happen. There will be a different pairing, but I probably won't put any kind of focus on it. It's a pairing I have only seen a couple of times before, but other than that you'll have to wait a chapter or two to find out what the pairing is.

Review Responses:

**Slade13:** Thanks for the encouragement! I know what you mean about your own negative voice. Mine kept wondering how people were going to recieve this story, and when I got so much good response for it, I was thrilled. It's funny, though. I don't think I've gotten more than one review that was even slightly negative. Maybe I was too mocking, and the other flamers are afraid to be laughed at. I don't know, but it is kinda funny.

**Rubberneck:** Female!Draco has a chance. Especially with Cologne there. You just know she probably brought some of the instant type. I don't see much point in giving Malfoy a permanent curse, especially when a temporary one has such possibilities. If he got a permanent one, he would just get used to it, but a temporary curse has some _nice_ possibilites for revenge.

**Ebona Nite:** No one besides the Amazons, as I noted in this chapter. Otherwise, everyone thinks Ranma was always female. He _has_ had almost a year to get into the role after all.

**SkyDragon2083:** Yes, there will be Ranma characters showing up eventually. I just haven't had much chance within the story line to bring them in yet.

**dana-san:** Yes, when the year is up, people will learn about Ranma's ability to change from male to female and vice versa. Other than that, you will have to wait to find out.

**Dragon Man 180:** Yes, I made Remus a wolf animagus. This way, he has control of the change, and he and Padfoot don't have to worry about anything. I haven't read the sixth book, so I don't know anything about the DADA teacher in that book. I just have an anonymous man who just couldn't take it anymore.

**Dairokken:** I sincerely doubt Ranma will have a romantic relationship in this story. I will say that if he did, the other person would know about his ability to change soon after it was obvious that the relationship will work. But as of yet, I have no plans to pair Ranma up with anyone, male or female.


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own neither Ranma or Harry Potter. If I did, Akane would have been out of the running as a fiancée from the beginning and Sirius never would have been killed.

Chapter 8

Though the trio asked several times, Ranma wouldn't explain what she and Shampoo had been talking about with the springs. Ranma did answer Harry's question, though. "You asked why, if I give everyone nicknames, I remember the names of some people but not others.

"It's a bit complicated, but I've always been like that. If I like or respect someone, I will give them a nickname. It doesn't have to be respect for them as a person, it can just be respect for the skills they have. If I only respect them for something like the skills they have, I will forget their real names. If I think they are important in some way, I will remember a person's name, but rarely use it."

She paused a moment to take in their reactions. Hermione seemed confused about something. "Ranma, you said if the person who you give a nickname is important, then you will remember their name, right?" Ranma nodded. "How do you mean 'important'?"

Ranma grinned. "I don't much care if someone is the poorest of the poor with hardly anyone knowing them or if they are someone whose name is known by all." Ranma glanced at Harry to see if he understood. He seemed to, so she went on. "If I consider someone important, it is because I think of them as a friend."

Shampoo nodded agreement beside her. "Is true. Ranma give nickname, she respect you. Ranma give nickname and remember real name, she like you. But if Ranma give real name and no use nickname, she hate you. Is her way." She smiled calmly at Ranma. "If you friend with nickname, watch. Ranma say sorry, she truly mean it when she use real name."

Shampoo could see that Ranma was getting embarrassed by all the attention, so she decided to change the subject. "So, what you do here? You no seem bored."

Ranma grinned. "Bumblebee-san asked me if I would start a type of physical defense class."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "Yes, the Headmaster said that he thought we could use a way to defend ourselves if we were unable to use magic for some reason." She paused for a moment. "I haven't heard that one. Bumblebee-san?"

Ranma grinned. "A bumblebee seems harmless until it stings you. Bumblebee-san always seems to try to make himself look like a harmless old fool, but he has a nasty sting when he feels like using it. I know, because he has blinded me every time I use my aural sight."

Harry snickered. "What did he say the first time you called him that?"

Ranma also snickered softly. "He gave me a surprised look and asked me to explain."

Ron waved his hands. "Wait, you managed to surprise him? And you never told us? Most people thought he was impossible to surprise!"

Ranma shook her head. "No, just very hard. He just doesn't show it very often." She shook her head and turned back to Shampoo. "Anyway, I started it a few days ago. First thing I did was tell them that if I caught anyone bullying or otherwise abusing their skills, I would kick them out of my class before they could ask why."

Shampoo nodded. "Is good thing. They no listen if you tell them later."

Ranma nodded in agreement. "Then, I started a small debate about which would give you more advantage in a fight, strength or speed."

Hermione spoke up again. "Yes, it was very interesting. I think you might get more of the Ravenclaws in if you do more debates like that."

Ranma nodded in agreement. "Yes, they seemed very interested. After we had argued for a while, I decided that there was still enough light out to be able to give a demonstration."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, and I got to be part of it." He turned an annoyed look on Ranma, who just smiled angelically. "I thought I wouldn't have to run for my life from anyone but Deatheaters anymore."

Ranma snorted softly. "You were not running for your life. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't know that you would be fine."

Shampoo looked around and snorted in exasperation, accidentally slipping into Chinese as she spoke. "Well, are you going to tell me, or are you going to drive me crazy with hints?"

Ranma snorted softly and answered in English. "I'm sorry, Xian Pu, I almost forgot is all."

Shampoo rolled her eyes. "You forgiven, but tell!"

Ranma laughed. "Alright, it went like this…"

**Flashback**

Dumbledore stood up towards the end of dinner. "Excuse me, but I have an announcement to make. Anyone interested in being in a new Physical Defense class, stay after dinner. That is all."

After dinner, the majority of the Gryffindor and Slytherins were still seated, as well as some of the Hufflepuffs and a few Ravenclaws. They were all whispering among themselves, wondering what this would involve.

Ranma stood in front of the teacher's table and watched in satisfaction as the remaining students quieted down. "Alright. As you heard, I will be teaching a Physical Defense class. Anyone who feels that they don't want to learn under me, can leave." There was some fidgeting, but no one left.

She nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now, first of all, I need to explain a few things. I will probably be breaking these groups up somewhat, but I refuse to go along with House rivalries. I will break the groups up along more physical lines. For example, I don't care if you hate each other, but all Seekers who are here will be in the same group, along with whoever else has a small, light build. This is because they are more likely to be faster instead of stronger."

Ranma grinned as she watched all of them whisper among themselves, confused. "Having said that, lets have a debate. Which would be of more advantage in a fight, speed or strength?"

One of the Ravenclaws raised her hand and Ranma nodded to her. "Are you asking if a fighter who focused on speed might have a greater advantage over one focused on strength, and vice versa?"

Ranma nodded. "Exactly. Which would have the greater advantage?"

Hermione spoke up. "I think that a fighter with greater strength would have a hard time hitting a faster opponent, and could just wear himself out."

Ranma nodded in agreement. "Good argument, but what if the stronger fighter had greater endurance? He or she could just wait for their opponent to tire, and catch them when they slowed down."

With that, the debate took off, and everybody seemed to be having some fun. After a while, Ranma glanced up at the ceiling and decided that there was still enough light for what she wanted to do. "Alright, we can continue this later. For now, I want to set up a demonstration of sorts."

Ranma led the group outside to the Quidditch Pitch and stopped at one end. "Now, I want to show you something, but I'll need a couple people." She calmly walked around until she found the people she wanted. "You're Goyle, aren't you?" she calmly asked a large, hulking boy. When he nodded, she asked him. "Would you mind being a part of my demonstration?" After a moment, the boy nodded and followed her back to the goal posts. Ranma then went looking for a different group and soon found them.

"Snaketongue! Glad you could make it. Care to participate?" and she had hauled him over to the goal posts before he could say a word in protest. "Great! I don't think I could use anyone else. This is perfect!" Harry just sighed and decided to go along with it.

Once she had both boys situated, Ranma turned to the rest of the group. " Okay, we are going to have a small demonstration to show one side of the debate. Harry is going to run to the end of the Quidditch pitch and back, with Goyle chasing him. I will be giving Harry a small head start, and he can use whatever maneuvers he wants to. Goyle will do his best to keep up. Harry will be safe only when he makes it back here and grabs my hand."

She grinned and looked at the two, only to find Harry staring at her. "Good luck, Harry. Goyle, you can do whatever you want to catch him, but please try to avoid squishing him. I don't think anyone will be too happy if you do."

Harry rolled his eyes, obviously wondering when she had gone crazy. "Alright, ready, set, go!" Harry took off running, and many were already surprised by his speed. Some seconds later, Ranma let Goyle take off. He was obviously no where near as fast as Harry.

At the other end of the field, Harry swung around the goal posts, having slowed down slightly to let Goyle catch up. He swung wide, and Goyle found that while Harry could slip between the posts quite easily, he could not. While Goyle was trying to get himself unstuck, Harry took off back down the field. By the time Goyle was free, Harry had a good head start.

Goyle managed to close the gap between them, and Harry watched with quick glances over his shoulder. When he saw Goyle attempt a tackle, he zigged with a hard left and left him sailing by. By the time Goyle was on his feet once more, Harry had again gotten a good gap between them. Harry was only a few feet from Ranma when he saw that Goyle was once more going to try a tackle. This time, Harry zagged right, and snagged Ranma's hand, twisting into a backwards slide as he barely managed to stop.

Ranma nodded happily and let go of Harry so she could go help Goyle up. "Good, both of you." She turned toward the rest of the class. "As you could tell, Harry used his speed and ability to dodge to lure Goyle into trying for a tackle, twice. Goyle was led to believe that Harry was tiring, and thought he would make mistakes. Instead, Harry was able to get some space between them so that he could afford to not go at full speed. He did something similar when he dodged between the goal posts, taking a chance that Goyle would not fit easily."

She turned back to the two. "I may not honor house rivalries, but you two can both take five points for your houses." She was still speaking loud and clearly enough that all could hear her, but was still obviously talking only to them. "By the way, Harry, I think we need to work on your brakes." Harry rolled his eyes, and several people snickered.

**End Flashback **

Shampoo laughed when they finished telling. "Snake boy have good tactics. Use enemy speed and size against them. Is good idea for fast fighter."

Harry grinned at the compliment but still rolled his eyes at the event told. "Yeah, I had to use it a lot with my cousin Dudley. He and his friends use to chase me all the time."

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, and we've already done some work on Harry's braking. He can stop reasonably well now if he tries, but it's harder at high speeds." She turned back to Xian Pu. "Do you think Grandmother will give me some advise? I usually don't have a class this big, and it's really different."

Xian Pu nodded slightly. "Yes, I think Great Grandmother be happy to help. She say teaching good experience."

Ranma nodded in agreement. "I'll also try to help you with English and Japanese some more." She grinned happily. "It'll be fun to have you two around again."

Xian Pu smiled slightly. "Now I meet friends, but where is teacher? Cat-lady sound nice."

Ranma happily jumped to her feet. "Of course! Come on. See you later, Reader, Snaketongue and Fireheart!"

The trio was left staring after her. Finally, Ron asked. "Where does she get all the energy from?" The other two just shook their heads, not able to answer.

Out in the hall, Ranma was using the link she had to her Auntie Min. It was the same feeling that had led her to Hogwarts, but stronger. Ranma used it whenever she wanted to search her out.

Shampoo shook her head but knew better than to ask as she was led on a maze-like journey to find the one Ranma had claimed as teacher. Eventually, they were in front of a door and Shampoo had long since decided not to bother trying to figure out where they were. Instead, she simply followed Ranma in when she opened the door.

Ranma looked around the teacher's lounge and soon spotted her Auntie, leading Shampoo over with her. "Hello, Auntie Min."

Minerva looked up from grading papers and smiled slightly. "Hello, Ranma. Who's your friend?"

Ranma grinned happily. "Auntie Min, this is my adopted sister, Xian Pu. Xian Pu, this is my aunt, Minerva McGonagall."

Xian Pu smiled slightly. "Hello, Miss Cat-lady. Is good to meet you."

Minerva smiled in turn. "Hello, Xian Pu, it's nice meeting you as well."

Ranma grinned happily as the two seemed to be getting along.

> > > > > > >

AN: Sorry I took so long with getting this chapter out. I've had it written for a while now, I just kept forgetting to post it. And since I don't have a lot to say, on to the Review Responses.

**Ebona Nite:** To be honest, I don't know yet what exactly Mousse did to piss off Ranma. For all I know, he might have mistaken Ranma for Shampoo one time too many. Mousse hasn't shown up to tell me what he did to Ranma yet.

**Dragon Man 180:** With Malfoy, who knows how long it will take him? He might insult Shampoo's English, or he could hit on her and really piss her off. I don't know yet. Everybody will be learning Ranma's secret soon enough, but not for a few more chapters. Genma will show up at Hogwarts, I'm just not sure when. And I won't argue the point about the Musk, but I will point out that this is Ranma talking.

**Rubberneck:** Like I said before, I am sure that Malfoy would be pissy about the whole thing, but why make him angry when he can be embarrassed totally? Permanently being cursed would probably end up with him using the gender swapping as an advantage, a bit like Ranma often does in canon. Just think of how paranoid he could get if he didn't know if the next cold water that hit him would change him or not! It'd be so funny to watch him get twitchy and then splash him with Instant Jusenkyo powder just when he starts to relax.

**Dairokkan:** To be honest, I have absolutely nothing against Mousse. I'm just trying to make them reasonably in-character. And you have to admit, the crack about his glasses probably isn't too far off base. I like Mousse as a character, but he did something to piss off Ranma, and Shampoo has never made any bones about how annoying she thinks he is. I really like Ryouga, and Ranma was just too interesting to ignore. Ryouga _will_ have a part in this story, I just don't know how big it will be.

**jewels:** Hey Chuwy! Thanks for reviewing. Yes, I think I could be considered a fireheart, if only for the fact that I'm a redhead. So : P.


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Do you really think I'd be writing fanfiction if I owned either Ranma 1/2 or Harry Potter?

Chapter 9

Sometime after she had introduced Shampoo to the trio and her Aunt, Ranma was once more wandering the halls. As it was very late at night, Ranma had taken a chance and turned male. He smiled at the things that she had told Shampoo and wondered how long his adopted sister and great-grandmother would be here.

Ranma shook his head as he remembered something that had happened not long after her first demonstration in her new class.

**Fla****shback**

"Where am I now!" a loud, frustrated voice wondered. Ranma's ears perked up and she walked over.

"Ryouga?" Ryouga looked up as he heard his name, and saw a small redheaded girl approaching him. He recognized her as the same cat-like girl that he had met before. "Ranma? Am I back at that school in Scotland?"

Ranma smiled slightly and nodded. "Yes, you are back at Hogwarts. Did you ever find the Tendo Dojo?"

Ryouga nodded. "Yeah, eventually. Kasumi was nice about it, and she didn't yell at me for not being on time. She just said she was glad when I came around, because she had someone to talk to."

Ranma tilted her head in confusion. "Who's Kasumi? She seems like a nice girl."

Ryouga nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she's helping me by listening when I need to tell about my problems. She doesn't mind me using her to vent, and she likes to be able to tell me about some of the things that are going on around Nerima."

Ranma hmm-ed in understanding and grabbed him by the arm so he wouldn't wander off before she finished talking with him. "Sounds nice. So what kind of strange things happen there?"

Ryouga shrugged and casually answered. "Oh, just some weird stuff. Her family has a guest, a friend of her father's, and he seems to bring some excitement. The last time I was there, I got a chance to talk to him." Ryouga paused as he watched Ranma, who didn't seem to be focusing fully on him as he spoke and decided to take a risk. "Do you have a panda for a father, Ranma?"

Ranma froze as the meaning of the question sunk in, and then she narrowed her eyes in fury. "No, I don't. I have no father." She turned and half dragged Ryouga to an empty room.

Ryouga smirked at the rise he had gotten, though he was also trying hard not to wince too obviously. Ranma had a strong grip. "I recognized Genma easily enough, and he told all about how his worthless son had abandoned him. I could tell he was lying about most of what he said, but I also remembered something that he seemed to think was true."

Ryouga reached out and grabbed Ranma's shoulder, forcing her to face him. "Genma told me that his son received a mixed curse, that he was no longer completely human. He also said that he turned into a redheaded girl."

Ranma's anger slowly drained away, and she pulled away to sit on a nearby chair. "It's funny. I didn't think Genma could tell the truth about anything."

Ryouga sank down in front of the dejected girl, watching as her ears drooped and her tail lay unmoving. "Kasumi helped me work through a lot of my anger, and she told me that maybe if I got the full story from you, I would feel better."

Ranma sighed softly. "Alright. You deserve to know." She got up and closed and locked the door to the classroom. Ranma also silently asked Hogwarts to make sure that no one could hear or see anything in this room. Finally, she turned back to Ryouga. "Where should I start?"

Ryouga considered the question for a moment before he answered. "Start after I challenged you."

Ranma nodded in agreement. "Alright. I was still fully male and human at the time." With that, Ranma became male. Her chest flattened out and hair darkened until a male Ranma with tail and ears stood there. Then, the tail shrank and disappeared, the ears changed to a human's, and pupils became more rounded.

Ryouga watched the change in fascination. "You can change at will? How?"

Ranma smiled slightly. "I'll get to that. You see, I waited for three days in that lot for you to come. Genma became impatient and finally knocked me out and dragged me away to China. Since he never bothered to learn Chinese, Genma didn't know that Jusenkyo was a valley of cursed springs. All he saw was 'dangerous' and 'training ground'. He has a history of stupid mistakes, so perhaps it wasn't so surprising.

"Anyway, I managed to dunk Genma first. He came out and knocked me into another spring, where I changed into a girl." His form shrunk once more, and soon a female Ranma stood there, still human thought Ryouga thought there was something strange with her nails and a couple other things.

"I came out, and I was of course furious. I went back to fight Genma some more, and he knocked me into another spring, where I gained my cat-like looks." Another transformation, and Ranma was as she had been for some time, cat-like and female.

"The guide explained that the curse was undone with hot water, but when he dumped hot water over my head, I was no longer human." Ranma changed to male once more, though he kept the cat-like features.

"I was furious, and for once Genma was smart enough to haul his fat butt out of there. I decided that I had had enough. I took most of the useful things out of both our packs and set off away from there. I haven't used the Saotome name since, and I don't intend to. Genma dragged it through the mud, and I don't think it will ever be clean again."

Ryouga shook himself at the end of the story. "Wow. No wonder you abandoned him. I would have done the same thing." He paused a moment as he studied him. "Can you change back to how you looked human?"

Ranma blinked, but he soon changed until he was human once more. Ryouga studied him for a moment, trying to figure out what bothered him. Finally, he figured it out. "I think you're shorter than you were. Either that, or I grew more than I thought, but I don't think that's it."

Ranma smiled slightly in amusement. "No, I shrank. Not much, but I did. Maybe when I can go all the way human, it'll change, but I don't know."

Ryouga shook his head in confusion. "What do you mean? You seem all the way human now."

Ranma shook his head and started to explain. "I can't go fully human just yet, but Auntie Min says I'm close. In the meantime, I can pass for human, but not actually be human." He held up a hand. "I still have claws, I think my teeth are still sharper than most humans, I'm shorter than I used to be, and my night vision is the same as when I'm cat-like."

Ryouga considered all of this and realized it was true. "Did you shrink when you became cat-like? Are you shorter when you have cat features than you are when you don't?" he asked to clarify the question.

Ranma laughed quietly. "Yes, I'm a little shorter. Not much, but I am. It took some getting used to at first when I realized that my girl side isn't supposed to be quite as short as it is." He shrunk down into his female form, and Ryouga saw that she was almost a foot shorter than when she was male. Then she became cat-like once more and, now that he was looking for it, Ryouga realized that she did indeed shrink slightly when she became more cat-like.

Ranma sighed somewhat wearily and sank down onto the floor. Ryouga frowned slightly. "What's wrong?"

Ranma shook her head. "I'm not used to changing so much in such a short amount of time. It tires me out somewhat."

Ryouga nodded. It made a certain amount of sense. He sighed. "Well, I should be going soon. Kasumi will expect me in a few days, and I don't want to disappoint her."

Ranma grinned. "So, are you going to ask her out anytime soon?"

Ryouga's face turned bright red in embarrassment. "Um…well…that is…"

Ranma's grin widened at the stammering. "What? You obviously like her. Maybe you could even bring her here. She seems like she would like an adventure of some kind."

Ryouga's blush darkened. "I'm not sure. I mean, she's a friend…"

Ranma shrugged. "So? You don't have to make it an official date or something. Who knows, she might say yes." Ranma paused a moment to enjoy Ryouga's continued embarrassment, but sighed in resignation as she realized something else. "Whenever you get back to the Tendo Dojo, would you mind passing along a message to Genma?"

Ryouga instantly forgot his embarrassment. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with him."

Ranma shrugged lightly. "If I can make the bastard suffer, then I will. So, will you?"

Ryouga nodded reluctantly. "All right. But this better be good. I always feel like washing after I talk to the panda."

Ranma snickered softly. "Right. Anyway, tell him that I have a new teacher. Don't tell him what for, just tell him that. Also tell him that I have become better than he ever was in a school in Scotland. Don't tell him what the school teaches though."

Ryouga nodded. "Oh, that will be worth it. The bastard will come running to tell you all about how worthless you are, and you get to rub it in his face. I like it." Ranma just laughed. Half a world away, a fat man called Genma shivered as he felt that something was going to happen that he would not like at all.

**End**** Fla****shback **

Ranma had finally managed to drag Ryouga to the Headmaster's office. The man had seemed slightly surprised to see them, but Ranma simply told him that she had run into Ryouga. She told the headmaster that he had mentioned something about being able to do something about Ryouga's curse. Unsurprisingly, Ryouga had been ecstatic.

Ranma smiled to himself. Bumblebee-san had scanned Ryouga with his magic, and determined that, while he could not get rid of the curse completely, he could make it so that Ryouga would be able to get somewhere if he concentrated enough. Unfortunately, it would take some time to set up.

**Fla****shback **

Ryouga just shrugged and said, "If there is any possibility of changing my curse, I will be forever in your debt. If I have to wait until the next time I find my way here, I can. In the meantime, I can go tell Kasumi about it and maybe the rest of my family."

Ranma nodded. "If you can get her to lead you home, maybe you could tell your mom and she could try to snag your father. I'm sure they'd both be happy if you could find some way of at least changing the curse."

Ryouga snorted. "Yeah, my parents are definitely missing each other. Dad sends postcards home to mom, and every time I manage to get home she lets me read them."

Ranma snorted in amusement. "Well, at least your curse has one advantage." Ryouga looked at her, confused. "You don't have to pay for a world tour, you could just take a walk in the neighborhood and be across the world in seconds."

Ryouga growled in mock annoyance. "Whatever. You're just jealous."

Ranma snickered. "At least your wife would be happy with the honeymoon. Especially if she was the type who wanted to travel the world."

Ryouga opened his mouth to retort, but paused as the words registered. Kasumi often said she'd love to be able to travel, but her family didn't have enough money. She was a really good friend, and if he helped her pick out some camping gear, he was sure she would be happy to travel with him. Then he realized that Ranma had said 'honeymoon' and his mind caught up slightly. 'Honeymoon is after wedding and wedding night. Wedding night is…' His thoughts trailed off, and suddenly all Ryouga saw was blackness.

Ranma was slightly concerned. Ryouga had been about to say something, but then froze up. He had a slightly goofy look on his face, and then that, too, froze. Now he was flat on his back, unconscious. "Ryouga? You all right? Hey, Ryouga!"

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Do you know what happened, Ranma? He seemed fine a moment ago."

Ranma shook his head. "No, not unless it was something I…said…" Ranma trailed off as she considered it. Then she slapped a hand against her forehead. "Same old Ryouga. I forgot about that."

Dumbledore raised his other eyebrow. "Ranma? Care to explain?"

Ranma laughed softly. "Ryouga is almost notoriously shy around girls. If there is a girl he likes, he tends to get really embarrassed. He told me about a really nice girl in Japan that he knows. From the way he spoke, she seems to do some amateur counseling. It's obvious that he likes her, but he probably hasn't said anything." Ranma shook her head softly. "Silly boy. He skipped past 'honeymoon' and went straight to what comes before it."

**End Flashback **

Ranma snickered softly to himself. By the time Ryouga had woken up and managed to set off for Japan, he was still looking slightly goofy. Ranma had worried slightly when he ran into a wall, and took him outside so at least he could avoid that. Even so, Ranma had followed for a while and Ryouga's trail looked like he was drunk or high.

> > > > > > >

AN: I had fun with this chapter. I said at some point that I would probably include a pairing that I haven't seen very often. To be honest, I only remember one other story with this pairing, but I liked the idea. Ryouga needs someone who will accept him without hesitation, and Kasumi really needs to get out more often. As Ranma pointed out in this chapter, Ryouga can take a world tour by walking down the street. Believe it or not, I do like Ryouga. He's just too easy to mock. Besides, when haven't you read some point in a story where Ryouga gets a nosebleed from the mere _thought_ of intimacies of any kind?

As a side note, what element do you think Ranma could be associated with? I think fire would fit him the best, personally. It's not really important, but it is something I'm curious about. I might use it at some point, whether it's in this story or not, I don't know.

And now, Review Responses.

**Masked Critic:** To be honest, I never thought about Tonks. I don't know her very well, but I do like the idea. Any chance you could give me a review telling a bit about her? If I decide to put that pairing in this story, some information about her would be really appreciated.

**Slade13:** Thanks for the support, but there is something I'm curious about. Who are the 'dillweed duo'? If it's something obvious, then I'm sorry, but I haven't a clue.

**dana-san:** I know the nickname thing seems strange, but if you think about it, he has a similar habit in canon. It just doesn't go with the 'forgetting their real name' so much. Think about it. He calls Ryouga 'P-chan', Akane is mostly 'Tomboy' or some variation, and he calls Cologne 'Old Ghoul' for the most part. Admittedly, this is usually used to piss them off more than show respect, but he still does it.

**Choas Babe:** One, I'm not stereotyping redheads. I know that some of us have a temper like flame. I also know that there are some that take a lot more than most people bother to throw before they lose their tempers.

And about the curse, I seem to have generated a lot of debate with this one. Here's an idea, though. As I pointed out to someone, being a girl probably wouldn't be a very noticeable change for Malfoy. I wonder if I should do something like have him be hit with Instant Ferret or something. Then when he starts to relax again, hit him with Instant Girl and see how long it takes him to notice.

**Dragon Man 180:** I may have to have the Giant Squid introduced to exotic cuisine. Or make a certain panda think that the Squid be interested. This has possibilities. As you can see, Ryouga did show up. I don't know when he will come back but as I said before, he will have a part in this story. And maybe next time he will bring Kasumi. I don't know. I haven't gotten that far yet.

**TheCentauress:** I don't know if Shampoo is a cat animagus or not. If she is, I may have to find images of her cat form on the web somewhere. Best way I can think of to bring it back without cursing her again, which I see no point in doing. And do you realize that your 'cat-chase' comment did? It gave me this idea where Ranma finds catnip in the Greenhouse! I need to work on it some more, and I may or may not actually post it.


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I'm neither Japanese nor British. Do you really think I own either Ranma or Harry?

Chapter 10

Ranma looked out the window of an unused tower and sighed softly. "My time is almost up. I'll be able to change at will soon, without worrying so much about accidental splashing." He stretched as he perched on the windowsill.

"My life here has been really interesting. I finally have friends, I finally got rid of Genma—" he cut himself off long enough to snarl softly at the name. "—and I have a decent teacher. I wasn't lying to either Ryouga or myself when I said that she teaches me. I became better then ever at the Art."

Ranma absently extended his chi claws. "I even have full control over the Neko-ken." He laughed bitterly and put his chi claws away, extending the physical claws he had gained at Jusenkyo. "Of course, I get all this at the cost of being human. Not too big a sacrifice at all!" He snorted sarcastically.

Ranma sighed softly. Now that his time was almost up, Ranma was getting really nervous. He didn't think anyone here would reject him or call him a freak. Ranma snorted. "Yeah, the only problem is that I don't know how most people _will_ react. After all, being chased out of a village more than once because people thought I was a demon…"

His form shrank slightly as he changed into his female form. While he wasn't as bad as before, Ranma still had trouble showing his feelings in male form. She buried her face in her knees and wrapped both tail and arms around her legs. Her voice was a little muffled when she spoke. "How long have you been there, Ryouga?"

Ryouga stepped a little closer, uncertain what he should do. "Only a few minutes. Why are you so sad?" He uncertainly put a hand on her shoulder.

Ranma stiffened ever so slightly at first, but soon relaxed. "Bad memories. Fear. I'm not so much sad as I am afraid. I don't think I can stand to be rejected again."

Ryouga shook his head in confusion even as he wrapped a tentative arm around her shoulders. He was caught by surprise when Ranma turned and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his shoulder, but he tentatively hugged her back. That seemed to be the right response, so he continued. "Why would anyone reject you? Once you got away from your f—ah, Genma, you improved quite a bit."

Ranma smiled shakily but did not look up. "Yeah, my life improved without Genma, but it also got worse because of my curse. It's only since I got here that Auntie Min began teaching me how to change back to human. Before, I was like I am now. I couldn't try to look human, and at first I didn't have any way to cover my strange features."

She shook her head slightly. Ryouga twitched slightly, and she looked up at him in confusion. Ryouga smiled slightly. "Your whiskers tickle, that's all."

Ranma sat back in the windowsill and touched her face. Sure enough, her whiskers had grown. She sighed bitterly. "Yeah, I go more cat-like when I'm emotional. Fortunately, I don't usually end up farther than thicker fur and whiskers. Of course, that tended to make things worse at times."

Ryouga's eyes widened slightly in comprehension. "You said that a few of the villages ran you out because they thought you were a demon?" Ranma looked away, but nodded slightly. Ryouga shook his head. "No wonder you're afraid. But they already know about you being partially cat. What could be wrong past that?"

Ranma sighed and turned back to look Ryouga in the eye as she slowly changed to her male form. Ryouga's eyes widened, and Ranma nodded. "Neither male nor female…"(1) He trailed off. "I've heard monster thrown at me before. I've heard freak, and I've even heard demon. But the worst is when someone sees me change. Then the insults get worse. After a while, I learned to stay female as long as I was in a village and wear a long coat with a hood whatever the weather was."

Ryouga shook his head. "Were they all that bad?"

Ranma smiled slightly and shook his head. "No. A few places were pretty good. Some people thought I was some kind of cat spirit. The Amazon village was also a good place. I liked it there, and might have stayed."

Ryouga cocked his head as he watched his friend begin to lose herself in good memories. "Why didn't you?" he asked quietly.

Ranma sighed. "I felt the call. When the spirit of the spring I fell into told me I could control the Neko-ken and the change if I was willing to merge with her and Neko and spend most of a year in my female form, she also said that I would feel the pull of a teacher. It's what brought me here."

Ryouga simply cocked his head slightly as he considered this. He was using a technique that Kasumi had used on him before, and it seemed to be working. "Do you know why you received the offer?"

Ranma nodded softly, eyes starting to droop in exhaustion. "Yeah. I learned that a bit later. It turns out that she was lonely. There was something strange with my soul that allowed her and the spirit of the cat spring to ride along with me." He yawned widely. "Something about I needed healing…"

Ryouga sighed as he watched Ranma fall asleep right in front of him. Turning back to his bag, he rummaged around in it. "Probably a good thing I started packing a second sleeping bag. Never know when Kasumi might decide to take advantage of my curse…Ah, here we go," he muttered quietly, not wanting to wake Ranma.

Ryouga calmly laid one of the sleeping bags on the ground next to the window and turned back to Ranma. He considered for a long moment how to do this, and shrugged to himself. Carefully, he picked Ranma up out of the window and set him in the sleeping bag. He took a moment to unhook Ranma's claws from his shirt and covered him. Then, he set up his own sleeping bag up a couple feet away.

"Night, Ranma," he murmured softly, already falling asleep. He heard a faint mumble that might have been a 'good night' just before he fell completely asleep.

> > > > > > >

The next morning, Ranma woke up in a sleeping bag. He looked around in surprise, and realized that Ryouga was a couple feet away in his own sleeping bag. 'Ryouga must have put me here. That was nice of him.'

Ranma yawned and stretched, and it wasn't until then that he realized something. "Wait a minute, I'm still male. There's a window right there, I should have been splashed somehow."

Ryouga woke up when he heard an extremely confused voice a couple feet away. Looking up, he saw Ranma sitting up and staring at himself in confusion. "Ranma? Something wrong?"

Ranma shook his head. "No, it's just that I should have been female by now, unless…" He turned toward Ryouga. "Do you have any cold water on you?"

Ryouga looked at him in confusion for a moment, but shrugged. He dug out a canteen and handed it to Ranma. "What do you need it for?"

Ranma smiled slightly. "I want to test something." He splashed himself with the water, but for the first time in a year, he didn't automatically change. "I thought so! My time's up! I can change when I want."

Ryouga grinned. "Good for you. Are you going to tell anyone?"

Ranma shrugged. "I'll tell Grandmother and Shampoo, but I don't think I'm ready to tell anyone else right now."

Ryouga considered the answer for a long moment before he nodded, accepting it.

> > > > > > >

It didn't take long for Ranma to hunt down Kuh Lon and Xian Pu. Kuh Lon had decided at some point to take advantage of Hogwart's facilities and was teacher her Great-Granddaughter Potions. Unfortunately for Ranma, this posed a different problem.

Kuh Lon and Xian Pu both looked up when they heard a loud sneeze from outside the door. Xian Pu snickered and Kuh Lon smirked softly as she called out. "Hello, Ranma. Care to come in?"

Ranma growled softly but didn't say anything when she came in. Instead, she stroked two fingers down the bridge of her nose and smiled. (2) "Hello, Grandmother. Hello Xian Pu. I have some really good news!"

Kuh Lon smiled as she observed the girl's obvious excitement. She had slipped into her native Japanese seemingly without realizing it. "Obviously, you seem very excited," she calmly answered in the same language. "But why don't you speak Chinese? I'm sure Xian Pu would be pleased to be able to talk without sounding like an airhead."

Ranma blinked as she realized that she had slipped into Japanese accidentally. "Oh, sorry. But anyways, my time is up! I don't have to worry about randomly changing any more!"

Xian Pu grinned happily for her sister. "Congratulations, Ranma. But I thought you had a couple more days."

Ranma grinned sheepishly. "I kinda miscounted. I only realized that my time was up when I woke up this morning after I spent the night male."

Kuh Lon frowned slightly in concern. "I thought you preferred to sleep as a female in case someone finds you."

Ranma looked away, blushing slightly. "Well, last night I was getting kind of depressed thinking of all the ways this could go wrong. Ryouga found me and what he said reminded me of the good times, when I wasn't just some freak passing through."

Kuh Lon and Xian Pu looked at each other, frowning in concern. Both quickly decided that now was not the time and didn't question Ranma. Instead, Kuh Lon said. "Well, this is good news, child. Perhaps we should find some way to celebrate."

Ranma instantly perked up at that. "Great! And now that I can control my changes, we can go out if we want."

Kuh Lon smiled slightly. "Yes, child, that thought had crossed my mind. Why don't we go tell the Headmaster? He should know of some way to send us into London."

Ranma nodded eagerly and turned to lead the way. In her excitement, Ranma forgot about a certain thing that would probably bring trouble later.

A certain panda slunk through the halls of the strange old castle. He had taken a long time to find this 'school' that the Hibiki boy had told him of, and hadn't even been able to enter it until it rained. Using the Umi-Sen Ken, he was currently invisible to both sight and ki senses. Unfortunately, his scent was still easy to track, which he had found out one time while trying to hide from his son in the Neko-ken.

Genma froze completely as he heard what sounded like a pogo stick and two girls talking with an old woman. Fortunately, none of them sensed him, and he carefully made his way onward.

> > > > > > >

(1) It's the beginning of a Biblical verse. I thought it was appropriate in this case.

(2) Basically, she's suppressing her sense of smell somewhat so she's not sneezing her head off while talking to Kuh Lon and Xian Pu.

> > > > > > >

I don't particularly like this chapter. Okay, I kinda like it, but it was still a bear to get it out and I'm still not really satisfied with it. It's too short and Ranma is kind of OOC, but I couldn't seem to think of anything more. That pretty sums up my reasoning on why I took so long with this chapter. Unfortunately, the next will probably take some time, too. I've been tackled by a whole bunch of baby plotbunnys, and none of them are even remotely related to this. They seem to center mainly on Inuyasha for some reason...

Anyway, I hope you like it. If you have any ideas on how to improve this chapter, I will take them into account. Thanks!


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Nothing but the story is mine, and most people seem to like the story.

Chapter 11

Several days after Ranma was able to change at will, she frowned as she sensed something strange. It felt almost like the times in her life when something truly drastic had happened. The major ones were when he was taught the Neko-ken and Jusenkyo. Both times, she had heard a strange rushing sound, as if a fierce wind had picked up. She was hearing that same strange sound now.

Before she could focus on the feeling and try to figure it out, she saw something that set her off like literally nothing else could have. There was a large panda in the doorway.

Genma looked around curiously. He didn't think he had ever seen so many children in one place before. Then he shrugged as well as a panda can shrug and came farther into the room. Strange that so many were pointing sticks at him, though.

At the teacher's table, McGonagall was distracted from the strange sight by a loud growling noise. Looking to her right at Ranma, her eyes widened in pure surprise. Ranma's eyes had narrowed down to slits, her lips were peeled back in a fierce snarl, her ears had flattened completely, and her tail was lashing wildly. Both the physical signs and the growling indicated that Ranma was extremely pissed off.

In a distant corner of her mind, Ranma realized that she had miscalculated the sheer amount of hatred she felt when she saw Genma's cursed form. The only thing holding her back from jumping out to shred him was that she really didn't want her new friends and her family to see that part of her. But she may have no choice but to unleash it…

McGonagall started to reach out to touch Ranma's shoulder, hoping to calm her somewhat, but felt a hand reach out and grab her wrist before she could. She frowned and looked at the owner of said hand. Evidently Xian Pu had moved out of her seat.

Xian Pu shook her head in warning at the woman. "Bad idea. Ranma no know you if you touch her now. She shred your hand right now. Best warriors in my village find it bad idea to bother her when she like this." Before she could explain further, Ranma launched herself over the table, somersaulting in mid-air and landing on all fours.

Genma saw the redhead that he now recognized as his son's cursed form stalk toward him and waved a sign angrily.

Ranma smirked slightly as she diverted her attention long enough to read the sign. Son! Why did you abandon me? We were just going to return to Japan so you could marry a Tendo!>

Ranma laughed harshly, a sound that held no humor and sent chills down the spines of everyone who heard it. Even Dumbledore was not immune, and though he was not frozen in shock at the sight of the normally calm girl snarling at the panda, something told him that it would be a bad idea to interfere. He hadn't lived this long without listening to his instincts, and this was no exception.

Ranma abruptly stopped laughing and stared scornfully at the panda. "You call me 'Son'? How typical. Most of the time you don't bother acknowledging it, but now that you think you have leverage, you call me your son. What. A. Joke." As Genma began to swell angrily, Ranma smirked. "Might as well let you talk, huh Genma?" She threw near-boiling hot water she had gotten from her storage space.

Genma yelled. "IT NEEDN'T BE _THAT_ HOT, BOY!" Without thinking, he had used English, just like his currently female son.

Ranma smirked. "Well, well. Congratulations, Genma. You're screwed." With those words, Ranma let out an angry feline yowl and literally _pounced_ on Genma. Her claws were fully extended, and she dug them in as she landed. Genma yelled loudly in pain and punched Ranma in the face. Ranma simply stepped back, grinning slightly despite the bruise already rising. "That's more like it."

Genma growled angrily as he stood, touching the scratches on his chest and coming away with blood. "What's wrong, boy, can't take it like a man?"

Ranma simply grinned and swiped out lightning fast with his claws. There was a kind of madness in his eyes as he was pushed beyond simple anger and hatred into a kind of calm. "Ah ah ah, Genma. No insults needed here. No reason to call me boy, either, now is there?" Unfortunately it was the kind of calm at the eye of a storm.

Genma jumped back in surprise and raised a hand to his cheek. He hadn't even seen the boy move, he was so fast. "So, you decided to throw away the Art and fight like a weak, sissy girl, scratching with your nails, huh? And here I thought the Hibiki boy was telling the truth when he said you were stronger."

Ranma smirked. "Oh, don't worry Genma, Ryouga was telling the truth. I was wondering if that was why you were here. Took you long enough to find the place." She calmly dodged a punch and punted Genma into a wall.

From that point, there was very little conversation as Ranma felt no need to talk, her human nature sublimating more and more beneath her rage and feline nature. When she threw Genma across the room and over the Slytherin table low enough that many had to duck, she laughed. It was a laugh filled with very little humor but plenty of malice.

"Sssilly Sssslytherrrrinsss. Guess we'll have to worrrk on yourrr dodging. Especially you, Malfoy." The blond Slytherin had barely ducked in time to keep from being knocked out of his chair.

Genma growled angrily around his breathlessness at being thrown into several walls. "Son, what is the meaning of this!" he demanded angrily.

Ranma paused and almost seemed surprised. Genma felt a tiny flicker of hope before it was wiped out. "You still call me son?" Ranma asked in a musing voice. "Amazing. Last time I checked, you lost that right years ago."

Genma stared, caught by surprise as he circled Ranma warily, trying to find her weak points. "What do you mean by that, boy?"

Ranma simply watched him in some dark amusement, head tilted to one side. "You mean you don't remember? Amazing, I thought it was too memorable to forget." Quite suddenly, Ranma practically disappeared and reappeared perched on Genma's back with her claws digging into his shoulders. "Shall I give you a hint, Genma?" She hit several spots on the fat man's back and flipped around to stand in front of him.

Ranma looked up at the man he had once called father. "Just so you know, the spots I hit should keep you paralyzed for some time. Long enough for me to tell you what you need to hear, anyway." She smirked at the fury she saw on his face. "Don't worry, I'll release you soon enough."

Turning, Ranma searched for one face in particular. "Hey, Snaketongue! Care to answer a question?"

Harry squirmed slightly at having the attention of most of the Great Hall. "Ah, sure, I suppose. What is it?"

Ranma turned and looked Genma in the eye as she spoke. "What family name have I used while I was here?"

Harry shook his head in confusion. "You didn't. Whenever someone asked what your last name was, you'd bite their head off." He added the last bit as he remembered Hermione asking that question. It hadn't been pretty.

Genma's eyes widened in pure surprise as he realized the point that Ranma was making. Ranma smirked when she saw his realization. "Thank you, Harry." She turned back to Genma, missing the surprised expression on Harry's face. "Do you see my point, old man? I renounced all claim to your name before I ever got here."

Genma did his best to convey his confusion, and Ranma's smirk simply widened. "Wondering why, Genma? It's because of two specific events in my life. I'll give you a hint. The first involved cats, fish, and a pit dug outside of Harrogate, England when I was six years old. The second involved springs, transformations, a curse, and stupidity that I haven't seen matched since and happened a little over a year ago."

Genma's eyes widened once more. Neko-ken and Jusenkyo?

Ranma smirked and spoke once more as she walked behind Genma. "I'll give you a moment to work out the kinks. Tell me when you are ready to continue."

Genma was about to speak, but then he looked into his female son's eyes and his mouth snapped shut. There was a madness there that he hadn't seen in a long time. The last time had been when Ranma had last gone into the Neko-ken. Then he realized that that wasn't quite what he was seeing here. This was a _thinking_ madness that was infinitely more dangerous. He didn't break Ranma's gaze as he worked out the kinks he had gotten from being frozen in one position for some time.

Ranma watched as Genma realized just how far she had been pushed, and smirked. It took several minutes before Genma finally stood straight and dropped into a fighting stance. The tension in the Great Hall only continued to build as the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws slowly retreated from their tables, showing a self-preservation instinct that made Ranma proud. After all, those houses sat the closest to where this confrontation was taking place.

Finally, Genma spoke. "When did you crack, boy?"

Ranma smirked widely. "Years and years ago when I realized just how badly off I really was. I just usually hid it. I'm not bothering now."

Without another word, Ranma and Genma launched into the fight, trading blows at speeds that few could even see, let alone match. After a long moment of this, Genma skidded backwards from a blow not fully blocked, and Ranma leapt after him, her whiskers fully spread and fur standing on end.

Genma grabbed Ranma's arm and managed to roll backwards and threw her into a wall. Ranma simply bounced off the wall, and returned for more. Genma wasn't quick enough to get out of her way in time, and she kicked him in the belly, knocking the wind out of him. Before he could recover, Ranma used a one-two combination and a punt to put Genma in the air.

Leaping high, she used an axe kick to drive him down. Unfortunately for her, Genma managed to grab hold of her leg and dragged her down with him. In the seconds it took for them to fall, Ranma and Genma grappled in mid-air, both trying to make the other take the force of impact. Ranma managed to force Genma below her, and braced herself against his stomach just before he hit.

She used a backwards somersault to gain some room, and watched as Genma stood, once more winded and unsteady. He seemed a little _too_ unsteady, so Ranma danced backwards, trying to draw him in. It didn't work until she was momentarily distracted by one student who was just barely out of the way.

As soon as he saw Ranma looking away for a moment, Genma stopped faking and attempted to tackle Ranma. Key word being attempted. Ranma turned at a shout from the students watching and grabbed Genma's outstretched arms and rolled onto her back with her foot buried in his belly.

Genma had only a moment to realize what she was about to do before he was thrown over the teacher's table, forcing several of them to duck. Ranma got to her feet almost immediately and saw something that made her blood boil as she saw red. Genma was hitting a woman in the stomach as she didn't get out of his way in time and said woman dropping to the ground in pain.

Unfortunately for Genma, that woman was a certain Head of Gryffindor who Ranma had already claimed as family. Genma looked up in fear as he heard a roar of rage and saw Ranma standing in the middle of a crimson aura. For the first time since this round of their fight had begun, Ranma spoke.

"You should not have done that, Genma. You should not have struck the one person I consider family. Genma, you will not like what I will do to you." She lunged across the table, barely noting as the teacher's scattered and Snape dragged McGonagall out of the way. In less time than it took to say it, Genma was unconscious in a large crater the same shape and size as him imbedded in the wall.

Turning on her heel, Ranma dashed over to where her Auntie was being supported by Snape, gasping in pain. Ranma frowned and gently began probing around the area of the blow. "Damned idiot, he hit too hard. You're no martial artist, Auntie Min, not even with some of the training you've had. Damn."

She glanced up at Snape. "Hold her still for a minute, Raven." Ranma crouched in front of her Aunt and spread both hands across her stomach closing her eyes in concentration. After a moment, two bruised ribs and at least three broken ones began to heal, and McGonagall was slowly able to breath easier. After a long moment, Ranma straightened up from her crouch and watched as McGonagall was also able to stand on her own.

Ranma turned and bowed deeply to Snape, who stood there wondering what was going on. "Thank you for saving my Aunt, Severus Snape. You have won more than my mere respect for a master." She straightened and watched Snape, whose eyes were widened in surprise at having her call him by name for the first time since they were introduced.

Turning, Ranma saw Shampoo nearby and slipped into Japanese as she spoke. "Hey, sis. I'm gonna need some help, that was a bad one." Without another word, Ranma's eyes rolled up into her head and she fainted. Shampoo was just barely able to catch her before she hit the floor.

Xian sighed as she looked down at the girl she considered her sibling. "Silly, you shouldn't have done that. You were already near the bottom of even your reserves."

Turning back to Snape, Shampoo smiled slightly and spoke once more in English. "Is good you help Cat-Lady-Teacher. You become important in Ranma eyes, and she remember your name." She also turned a bright smile on McGonagall and motioned with her head. "You come with to see Nurse-lady, yes? Ranma not able to heal completely when tired."

McGonagall swayed slightly in place and nodded agreement. "Alright. Let's go."

Shampoo smiled slightly and stood with Ranma in her arms. " Potion-teacher bring old panda, yes? No good to let him loose."

Snape rolled his eyes slightly but nodded. "Yes, yes. I'll bring him along and make sure he can't cause trouble." Using a quick Petrificus Totalus and a levitating spell, Snape calmly followed the three females in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

> > > > > > >

AN: I know I took a while to do this one, and there is a good reason for it. I couldn't seem to get a damn thing done for this story, and it was really frustrating. It wasn't like the last one, where I had something but it didn't feel complete. For this chapter, I literally had nothing. Then last night, I was reading some Ranma fanfics, and when I went to bed, I was hit with a good way to do this one. If you see any mistakes, feel free to point them out.

This chapter is literally 'hot off the presses'. I haven't even checked it like I usually do. I'm sure some of you have been stuck at a specific point before, and know how frustrating it tends to be. Well, something finally gave in my mind and this story was practically flooding out my fingertips when I started typing. Tell me what you think of it and if there are thing I need to change.


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: This is not mine, though I'd love to claim it if I could.

Warning: Just so everyone knows, this is pretty much a pure explanation chapter. Ranma's coming clean.

Chapter 12

Sometime after she fainted, Ranma woke up. Looking around, she realized that she was in the Hospital Wing. Shaking her head, Ranma thought back to what had happened. Lets see, panda spotting, fight, talk, more fighting, kicking panda ass, healing, acknowledgement, and fainting. Speaking of healing, where was her aunt?

Ranma sat up and looked around to figure out who else was in the Hospital Wing. Genma was some ways away from her, but Auntie Min was in the next bed over from her.

McGonagall smiled as she saw Ranma noticing her. "Hello, Ranma. Did you have a good nap?"

Ranma smiled. "Yes, did Osprey heal you the rest of the way?"

McGonagall smiled slightly. "Yes, Madame Pomfrey did. She wants to talk to you before you leave here."

Just then, a door opened and Madame Pomfrey came in. She noticed that her feline patient was awake and came bustling over. "Ranma! Good, you're awake. According to my spells, you were not injured in any way, but you drained yourself severely."

Ranma smiled slightly. "Yes, Osprey, I had to heal Auntie Min." She sent a contemptuous look down the room to where Genma lay. "Genma hit her too hard. He didn't hold back like he should have."

Madame Pomfrey raised an eyebrow in amusement. She didn't mind her nickname like some did. Then she went back to business. "It's probably a good thing that you did." She calmly turned toward McGonagall now. "I didn't tell you this yet, Minerva, but according to my diagnostic spells, she may have saved your life."

Ranma ducked her head shyly as both women turned to stare at her. "It wasn't too hard, I just had to realize what it was supposed to look like and make it go back to being that way."

Madame Pomfrey shook her head. "Ranma, have you had any teaching about anatomy?"

Ranma shook her head. "No, but I read a lot. In one town I went through, there was a few medical books in the library. I studied them while I was there."

Just then, the door leading into the hall opened, and two figures stepped through. Ranma grinned happily. "Bumblebee-san! Raven!" Her ears were perked forward happily, and Snape had to resist the urge to smile at the cute sight.

Dumbledore had no such compunctions. "Hello, Ranma. Good to see you awake again. You gave some of us quite the scare."

Shampoo and Cologne walked in behind them, and Cologne snorted in amusement as she pogo-ed over. "What he means is that most of the students here that you have impressed or made friends with were worried, as well as the majority of the teachers. Pomfrey there was among those with some common sense."

Ranma grinned. "I'm hard to hurt, but I was tired. 'Sides, Osprey has good spells and training on her side."

Dumbledore shook his head in amusement. "Yes, well, we wanted to talk to you about the fight. There are a few things that need clarification." Only those who were extremely good at reading body language or knew Ranma very well could see the way she tensed at that. Perhaps unfortunately for her, this included everyone in the group.

Ranma regarded Dumbledore warily. "What did you want me to clarify, Bumblebee-san?"

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "It's nothing to be worried about, Ranma." Ranma didn't relax, so Dumbledore decided to ask his questions somewhat indirectly. "Well, you did seem somewhat tense all day. Would you mind telling us why?"

Ranma didn't let herself relax, but she decided to answer truthfully. "When something big is about to happen in my life, I start to hear something that sounds like a wind picking up." She grinned ruefully. "I heard the phrase 'Winds of Change' somewhere, and it seemed to fit."

Dumbledore nodded and continued. "Why did the sight of a panda set you off so badly?"

Ranma studied him for a moment and sighed. "You are very good, Albus, but I can tell when I am being questioned about something."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. Ranma didn't usually use his name, but he had heard her use those of some students before when she was being extremely serious. It would be useless to try to bluff her. "All right then. Will you still answer our questions?"

Ranma tilted her head and looked him in the eye. "I have little choice and much inclination. Perhaps the information will be important at some date, but it does not matter. You will not react as many of the others have." Her voice was dreamy and soft as she spoke, but everyone heard it.

Dumbledore considered the answer, and decided to go for the biggest question. "Several times, the man in that bed over there called you 'son' and 'boy'. Will you tell us why?"

Ranma smiled ever so slightly. "Alright. That man over there is named Genma Saotome. He is married to a woman named Nodoka Saotome. About seventeen years ago, Nodoka Saotome gave birth to a boy with black hair and blue eyes. Genma and Nodoka decided to name him Ranma."

Before four pairs of stunned eyes and two knowing pairs, Ranma shifted and grew somewhat into a seventeen year old male with blue eyes. The cat-like features that had grown so familiar on the female Ranma were still there, simply black instead of red.

Calmly standing before anyone could say anything, Ranma walked gracefully over to the bed a petrified Genma lay on. Smiling viciously, Ranma leaned to look him in the eye. "You know, Genma, I don't know whether I should hate you for all the things you've done to me, or thank you for finally pushing me that extra bit too far."

Unsheathing his claws, Ranma held his hand so that Genma could see them. "This is part of when you went too far, Genma, as well as all of the rest of it. But there was a less obvious consequence as well." Ranma re-sheathed his claws and let loose the ki claws that he had before only been able to use while submerged in the Neko-ken. He smiled cruelly as he saw the recognition in Genma's eyes.

"Yes, Genma, that is part of my problem. Should I hate you for causing me to go insane in the presence of cats, or should I thank you for the fact that another of your examples of idiocy was the reason I once more have total control and no fear?" His voice was musing and cold, showing that he didn't really care.

Then his tone changed, and even Snape winced at the vicious, cutting tone. "Or I suppose I could do both. I could shred you using only the abilities I received from the Neko-ken." Ranma put his hand on Genma's chest, with his claws still extended, and he dragged his hand down, shredding Genma's shirt but leaving no mark on his skin.

Ranma snorted as he pulled away from the once-more unconscious Genma. Turning back to those watching, he smirked softly. "That's better. I didn't feel like letting him listen to all we had to say." He grinned, this time much more warmly, and returned to his place on the hospital bed they were all gathered around.

McGonagall shook her head and smiled slightly. Though her form hadn't been completely true, McGonagall had gotten to know her adoptive niece quite well. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that this was still Ranma. She glanced over at the lump on a bed farther down and her smile disappeared as her expression grew cold. That idiot deserved whatever Ranma dished out.

Ranma smirked slightly as he glanced over at his aunt. He recognized that emotion quite well. "Don't worry, Auntie Min, he'll get what's coming to him." McGonagall smiled, but did not answer. After a moment, Ranma turned back to the gathered adults. "Anyway, now that the bastard is out, I'll continue."

He took a deep breath and let it out. This part would be hard. Shampoo seemed to understand and sat down next to him, lending support. Ranma smiled at her and began to speak. "First of all, I never had an easy life. When I was only about five or six, Genma took me out on the beginning of a long training trip that lasted roughly ten years.

"We made good time, and Genma took me across Asia and much of Europe on foot. He trained me the whole way in different things, and in England, we found an obscure training manual. Or rather, Genma was stealing from people and found something he thought was interesting enough to keep instead of selling it."

Ranma smiled bitterly as he paused, watching the teachers decide to settle on different beds around him. "The manual was for something called the Neko-ken. A technique that was banned due to the fact that too many of the trainees and trainers died, and those that survived were usually driven insane." He shook his head in bitter amusement. "The idiot didn't even bother reading the whole thing, and he evidently missed that part."

McGonagall shook her head. Ranma had gone into some of the reasons she, er he, hated his father, but she had never told her this part. "I don't understand, Ranma. How can a training exercise drive a person insane?"

Ranma snorted. "Easy, all you need is a pit, a lot of cats, fish sausage, and an idiot dumb enough to try it." He grimaced. "Throw the cats in the pit, starve them for several days, wrap student in fish sausage, and throw him or her in the pit. Evidently it only worked on children under ten, so Genma had a ready-made excuse for not doing it himself."

Those around him who had not known of the Neko-ken before, namely everyone but Shampoo and Cologne, were staring at him in horror and he turned away slightly to snarl in the general direction of Genma's bed.

Then Ranma sighed and decided to continue his story. "Most of the rest of our trip doesn't really matter at the moment, just more training. What happened at the end is much of the reason I am here." Pausing, he smirked. "Grandma, would you mind explaining the springs?" He gave her an innocent look that she saw right through.

Cologne snorted fondly. "Lazy, I suppose. Very well, I will tell those here about the springs." Turning back to the four Hogwarts adults still listening avidly, she calmly settled down on Ranma's bed.

"My adopted grandchild has mentioned the springs before, but knew it was not the right time to explain them. Now, he decided to foist it off on me, instead." She glanced over her shoulder at the smug Ranma.

"In China, there is a valley of springs called Jusenkyou. In each of them, something once drowned, usually long ago. Among them are the Spring of Drowned Cat and Spring of Drowned Girl, as well as Spring of Drowned Panda." She cast a contemptuous look towards a certain bed.

"What is significant about the springs is that anyone who gets wet from the water in them will turn into whatever drowned there last. They can be changed back to their birth form with warm water, but cold water will turn them back into their cursed form."

Dumbledore frowned slightly in concentration. "I have heard of something like that, some time ago, but it was thought to be a myth."

Ranma smirked and took over the story once more. "Oh, it's real. Just the fact that I'm sitting here today says a lot for that. If I hadn't gotten my specific curse, my life would have been extremely different, and I never would have known that Hogwarts existed."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "You seem very sure of that."

Ranma smirked softly, but didn't answer right away. "When we went to Jusenkyou, I got dipped first in the Drowned Girl spring and then in the Drowned Cat spring. Evidently if you are dipped in a second spring while you are still wet from the first, the new curse mixes in some way with the first one.

"Soon after that, I ditched Genma completely and set off on my own. At one point, I sat down and meditated. What I saw was the female body I had gained at Jusenkyou, only she was completely human. There was also a large black panther."

Ranma concentrated for a moment, and as they watched Ranma shrank down into his female form, then changed more until she was human-looking. Looking up, she smirked softly. "The girl was the spirit who had been in the spring ever since she drowned, and the panther represented the spirit of the Cat spring merged with my own cat nature that I had gained when I learned the Neko-ken."

Cologne blinked at that. Ranma had never mentioned _that_. Ranma simply snickered, letting her know that he had noticed her surprise.

Smiling softly, Ranma continued. "The girl made a deal with me, which I'll explain in a moment. The girl had some prophetic abilities, and cats also have a kind of sensitivity of their own. Combined, they both showed me what would have happened if I had not ditched Genma." She made a face.

"In the one I saw, I was fully human, but my life was hell. I was engaged to about three different girls, had to deal with three or four males that hated me because I was engaged to the girls they liked, one of my fiancé's sisters was a manipulative bitch who exploited me and my curse in any way she could manage, and that particular fiancé hated me. Not to mention I managed to run afoul of the Amazonian marriage laws and was technically married to Shampoo."

Shampoo jerked, and in her surprise spoke in Chinese. "Me, married to you? No offence Ranma, but hell no! You're too much of a brother-sister!"

Ranma smirked and replied in English. "I know, Shampoo, but in that one my father was an idiot who ate the prize for the competition, and I ended up fighting you and beating you."

Shampoo blinked and considered that. "Oh. I no know you in other reality?"

Ranma shook her head. "No, you saw me the same as any other male, only I was stronger than you and by your laws, married to you." She made a face. "Worst part was that I defeated you as a female, then later you found out I was male when I defeated you as a male. You ended up going back to get Grandma to try and figure it out."

Cologne noticed the confusion of those around them and decided to explain. "In our village, there are several different laws about outsiders. If an outsider female fights and defeats an Amazon warrior, then they must be hunted down and killed. If it is an outsider male, they are considered married to the warrior they defeated."

Shampoo smiled as she saw them try to wrap their brains around that and decided to help a bit. "All Amazon warriors female. Is our way."

Dumbledore shook his head as he processed this information. Then he decided to move onto something else so that everyone would have time to absorb what they had just been told. "You mentioned a 'deal' these spirits made with you. What was it?"

Ranma smiled slightly at that. "For a year after I was cursed, I was forced to spend most of my time in my female form. I could only spend a couple hours a day in my male form, and if I left it for too long I would be splashed with cold water and changed back to female." She smiled slightly.

"After that was over, I gained complete and total control over my curse. If I want to be male, I can be." She changed to her male form to prove her point, his cat parts returning at the same time. "If I want to be human, that takes more effort, but Auntie Min has been teaching me the basics of animagus transformation, and it seems to be similar."

McGonagall shook her head slightly. "I can see what you got from this, Ranma, but what did these 'spirits' get?"

Ranma sighed. "Freedom." Seeing that they didn't understand, he settled in to explain. "When something drowns in the springs, their spirits are trapped in the spring. When someone falls in and is cursed, sometimes after they die their memories are returned to the spirit of the spring they fell into. This way, the spirits have some idea of what is going on in the world, but they can have absolutely no affect on it."

Ranma got up and walked over to look out a window. "There was something about me that let the spirits do more than they ever could before. Instead of simply getting my memories once I died, they managed to kind of 'piggyback' with me.

"When I sat down to meditate, they both came forward to see if they could have more, or if they would simply watch my life through my eyes, unable to affect anything, and finally be carried into the afterlife when I died." He smiled bitterly.

"Kyoko, the spirit of the Spring of Drowned Girl, told me that it was still an infinitely better life than being stuck in a spring for eternity, maybe hoping that someday something else would drown there and free them somewhat that way." Shaking his head slightly, Ranma turned back to look at them all as they stared at him. Most of this was stuff that he had never told either Cologne or Shampoo.

Ranma sighed deeply. "My code wouldn't have let me just leave them to fade into obscurity in the back of my mind, just waiting until I died so they could move on. I accepted them and merged with them.

"While I didn't really get any of their memories, some of their behaviors and tendencies did stay with me. Another thing that I got was some of the muscle memories from the people who drowned in their springs. I can now use just about any weapon they could, and I can recognize and, in some cases, speak the same languages they could."

Ranma grinned as he saw the looks on their faces. "And no, this does not mean that I was all of a sudden all-powerful. It just meant that I had the knowledge of how to do some moves and how to recognize when I did something wrong and how to fix it. It was a bit like stuffing the training manuals for a bunch of different weapons and moves into my head. I still had to learn how and when to use them."

He shook his head slightly. "I think a lot of it forced me to mature, too." He grinned over at Cologne and Shampoo. "While Genma's teachings weren't as deeply engrained as they could have been, much of it was too much a part of my learning for me to recognize and change.

"Getting about a ton of new information over the month or so before I came across your village helped a lot." He winked. "Especially since a lot of the ones who fell in those springs were Amazons."

Ranma stretched in a way that made those without extensive training in the martial arts wince. "And that's all your going to learn until you come out of hiding and ask questions face to face."

Everyone except Cologne, Pomfrey, and Dumbledore were a little confused at what he meant, but it became obvious a moment later. At the other end of the room, there was a slight rustling sound as three students became visible. They were immediately recognizable as the Gryffindor trio.

> > > > > > > 

AN: Sorry I took so long in getting this one out. I've had it written for a while now, but I keep forgetting to upload it. Hopefully the next won't take nearly so long, since I already have it written. I even have some idea what's happening in the one after that! I love this story, it's fun. Hope you all enjoy, and I always welcome reviews. Hint, hint.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Ranma happily bounded over several beds and landed behind them. "So, how long have you three been here, anyway? I haven't been paying as much attention as I should. And what's this, anyway?" He took the Invisibility Cloak from Harry and held it up carefully.

Harry was the first to come out of his shock. "It's an Invisibility Cloak. It used to be my father's."

Ranma nodded in acknowledgement. "Don't worry, I won't rip it or anything. But you didn't answer my question. How long have you been here?" It was hard to take him seriously when Ranma currently had his head stuck under the cloak, making it look like he was headless.

All three snickered slightly at that, but Hermione decided to answer. "We've been here since you explained how you knew that fat man who turned into a panda."

Ranma nodded. "So the only important thing you missed was me telling Bumblebee-san about the 'Winds of Change.'"

Hermione shook her head in confusion. "Winds of Change? What does that mean?"

Ranma shook his head and moved the cloak slightly so that his body was invisible but his head was not. Harry had to bite his lip at the sight, trying not to laugh. It reminded him of how he had first found out what the cloak was. Then Ranma started to speak.

"The Winds of Change is what I call something that I've heard my whole life. Whenever something big is going to happen, I hear a sound like a wind picking up, changing. It's why I've been on edge all day, even before Genma showed his snout." He turned and snarled, making the three jerk in surprise.

Ranma walked over to the bed holding Genma. "Well, well, you're awake. I should have known. Not even you could hold a faint from terror for long. I'm not even going to bother asking. After all, I know how long you've been awake, Genma. Even paralyzed your breathing changed just enough."

Ranma jumped up on top of his belly, changing in mid leap to female and crouching on her high perch. "I wonder if I should ask one of the teachers to let you speak. It's almost a pleasure being able to be around you when you're not blathering your head off, though."

Before she could say anything else, a sound from outside the ward had her ears pricking for just a moment as she rose from her crouch. Then, with a happy and distinctly feline sound, she propelled herself off of Genma.

Harry, Ron and Hermione instinctively ducked when she went straight over them, but it wasn't necessary. Ranma was able to clear their heads easily.

Everyone stared at each other, and after a moment three students, three faculty, one old woman hopping on a cane, and a girl with purple hair were out the door after Ranma.

Out in the hall, Ranma didn't take long to find the ones she was looking for. "Hey, Tornado! Where have you been? And who did you bring?"

Ryouga looked up at the sound of Ranma's voice and grinned at the sight of his friend. "Hey Ranma. I was trying to get back to Japan." He motioned to the girl standing beside him, carrying a backpack and holding a kind of lead attached to Ryouga's backpack. "This is Kasumi Tendo."

Kasumi smiled. "Hello, you must be Ranma. Ryouga has said so much about you."

Ranma tilted her head slightly, studying the girl wordlessly. She barely heard the ones who had chased her halting a few feet behind her. Finally, she smiled and stepped forward to give the surprised girl a friendly hug. "Hello, Dove. It's nice to meet you."

Kasumi blinked in surprise. "Er, thank you. May I ask why you called me dove?"

Ranma grinned happily. "The dove is a sign of peace. Makes you a perfect compliment to Tornado, who is rarely peaceful."

Ryouga shook his head in confusion. "Tornado? I didn't think you had a nickname for me."

Ranma's grin widened. "Yes, Tornado. I had one, it just didn't come to the surface until now." She turned and led the way to a nearby empty classroom. "Besides, it fits you perfectly."

Kasumi smiled slightly and decided to follow the redhead. "Come on, Ryouga, she seems nice." The ones who had been in the Hospital Wing sighed in frustration and decided to follow. Pomfrey already had a ward on her domain that would let her know if she was needed.

Ranma waited in the classroom for them. For some reason, there was absolutely no dust, even though the room had been abandoned for some time. McGonagall automatically pulled out her wand and transfigured enough seats for all of them.

As if no time had passed, Ranma calmly turned to Ryouga to explain his nickname. "I didn't have a name for you before because I wasn't sure how to classify you. I call those people who I dislike or who I am unsure of by their own names. Genma is a good example of that. You were another." She paused for a moment to see how he would take it. After a moment's thought, he nodded for her to continue.

"If I respect someone but neither like nor dislike them very much, I will choose a name and call them exclusively by that." She gestured towards Snape. "Raven over there used to fit there, but since he helped Auntie Min, he no longer does.

"The last category of people are those I like and consider friends on some level. I call them by the names I choose, but if I am absolutely serious about something, I call them by their own name. That includes everyone in this room, even though Grandma has asked me not to use my name for her."

Cologne smiled slightly as the younger ones turned to look at her curiously. "Ranma explained why she called me by the name she chose, and I asked her not to because of how revealing it was." She shrugged. "Now Ranma uses Grandma in the same way as any of the others."

Ryouga smiled slightly. "Well, that does explain a lot, but why did you call me Tornado?"

Ranma grinned and leaned towards him. "Silly! Means you're my friend. I trust you now. And Tornado because you're like one. Your rage is fierce and can cause a lot of damage, but at the same time it lasts for a much shorter time than it might seem to a target of that fury."

Kasumi giggled. "She seems to have you pegged, Tornado." She commented teasingly.

Ranma grinned. "And you know him just as well, Dove. How long have you two been dating?" She asked innocently.

Both Ryouga and Kasumi blushed bright red and stammered slightly. Finally, Kasumi answered. "Ah, well, for some time now. My family doesn't know, though."

Ranma considered that for a moment, then closed her eyes, frowning in concentration. "Dragon knows, but she respects you. She knows that you wouldn't choose to give your heart away lightly. Hurricane and Storm have no idea." She smirked ever so slightly. "Rather oblivious, aren't they? There is also a kind of pride directed towards you, but not from any of them, but someone else who knows you well."

Kasumi shook her head. "Dragon? Do you mean Nabiki? And who are Hurricane and Storm? How do you know that anyway? And who else would know me well?"

Ranma opened her eyes and smiled slightly. "Yes, your sister is Dragon. They have been known to hoard wealth, after all. Hurricane is your other sister and Storm is your father. Nothing else really matters at the moment. All that matters is the happiness of two souls who can find little of it on their own but much of it together."

Kasumi looked like she wanted to question more, but Ryouga just put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head slightly when she looked at him. Now was not the time. "Don't worry Kasumi, Ranma is contrary at times, but she doesn't lie about certain things."

Ranma playfully stuck her tongue out at Ryouga and smiled at Kasumi. "Don't worry, Kasumi, Ryouga is telling the truth about me." Leaning forward, Ranma once more hugged the surprised girl and whispered into her ear. "Be happy, big sister. You make Ryouga happy, and both of you have more than earned that happiness."

Pulling back, Ranma gave no sign that she had said anything and turned toward Dumbledore. "Hey Bumblebee-san, are you going to fix Ryouga's curse now?"

Ryouga jerked in surprise before Dumbledore could answer. "Oh, yeah! I almost forgot about that!"

Dumbledore chuckled slightly in amusement. "Well, we had better get it taken care of now, before you are lost or forget again," he answered, the twinkling in his eyes taking away any sting the words might have had.

> > > > > > >

Dumbledore led the small group on their way. Snape, McGonagall, and Pomfrey had all said they had things to do and would not be able to join, and Kuh Lon had dragged Xian Pu off, saying something about training. All that was left were the Gryffindor trio, Ranma, Kasumi, and of course Ryouga, who kept having to be pulled back on the right path.

Finally, the group reached a hallway that all but Ryouga and Kasumi recognized. Ranma tilted her head curiously. "You're going to use the Room of Requirement? Why?"

Dumbledore smiled as he paced in front of a certain section of wall, imagining what would be needed. "Well, it seemed the easiest way to have the room and items that would be needed. Besides, we won't be interrupted."

Ranma smiled. "That's true. So what do we have to do?"

Dumbledore simply smiled and led the way in. There was a room about the size of the average classroom, with a circle of protection on the floor. Turning back to Ranma, he smiled. "How did you heal Remus?"

Ranma frowned in confusion. "There was something wrong with his aura…" she trailed off and suddenly whirled toward a startled Ryouga. Her eyes flashed, and suddenly she seemed to be looking through him. She circled him closely, occasionally stopping to lean close as if trying to see something.

Finally, Ranma stood facing Ryouga and blinked. "Well, I don't know how your family managed to get a transportation spell mixed up in your aura, but it looks like it should have been under your control. Something happened to kind of cut it loose. It somehow managed to take all sense of direction with it. I suppose it has something to do with the transportation itself…"

Ryouga looked at Ranma, a little lost. "Are you saying that I'm supposed to be able to control where I go?"

Ranma nodded absently and dragged him to the middle of the protection circle. "Sit here." Turning back to the others, she calmly snagged Kasumi's arm and gently pushed her over to stand with the others by the wall. "You five stay here, too. This is different from fixing Moony's lycanthropy. I don't want any of you to get mixed up in this and have to be found again."

The five obediently stood against the wall, watching Ranma as she turned back toward Ryouga. Finally, Harry asked a question. "Professor, what did she mean about being found?"

Dumbledore just shook his head slightly. "I'm not entirely sure, Harry, but if fixing this has some backlash, I imagine it would result in sending whoever is caught in it somewhere unpredictable."

Ranma frowned as she looked at Ryouga. "Thought I told you to sit down." Ryouga sighed, but obediently sat. Ranma calmly kneeled in front of him. "Hold still, this may feel…strange." Without another word, Ranma calmly extended claws she had once only been able to use when she was lost from the fear of cats.

Ryouga watched Ranma and twitched slightly when she extended her claws. "What are you doing?"

Ranma calmly reached out and used her claws to manipulate Ryouga's aura the way she wanted it. "I need the right tool for this. It requires delicacy and I can't be as direct as I have to be any other way." With that, she carefully snagged the 'lost' spell tangled in Ryouga's aura and began to weave it back where it should have been before.

As she worked, Ranma spoke. "Someone in your family line wanted to be able to travel the way you do, only with more control. It was a trait that was meant to be passed down through the family, but something went wrong. I'm not sure if the ritual was interrupted or what, but it was unfinished." She shuffled slightly around to work on a new section.

"In a way, the spell worked. It just didn't work quite the way it was meant to. The spell was put into your ancestor's aura, but it wasn't fixed. It gave them the ability to travel, but the price of the unanchored spell was a complete loss of control." Without detangling her claws, Ranma carefully shuffled further around. By now, she was almost behind Ryouga.

"What I'm doing now should help fix it. There is nothing wrong with the spell itself, that was done perfectly. The problem is that without being anchored, it swings where it will. If it swings the right way, it does what it was meant to and sends you traveling. But the way it is, the traveling never has a destination. You are simply sent randomly to some other place."

Ranma sighed. By now, she was almost done and was once more kneeling directly in front of Ryouga. "This is a tricky part. If I thought it would help, I'd tell you to hold your breath, but that would only make it worse."

Ryouga frowned slightly. "What's the problem, then?"

Ranma shook her head slightly, hands still occupied with her claws seeming to be tangled in something inches from Ryouga's chest. "I kind of weaved the spell around you. Once the two ends are connected, it will spread all over you and be completed. The problem is that it will likely create a backlash. Fortunately, the protection circle will keep it from spreading."

Ryouga's eyes widened as he realized what she wasn't saying. "Will it affect anything in the circle?"

Ranma smiled and carefully pulled her left hand away and moved it over slight to snag something else. "Who knew Martial Arts Sewing would come in handy at a time like this?" She shook her head. "No, it won't affect you." And with that, she weaved the two ends together and there was a bright flash.

Once the light cleared, everyone realized that there was one person missing, and an echoing feline yowl was the only clue to what had happened.

> > > > > > > 

AN: Aren't I mean? I was going to have this chapter out a little sooner, but I kind of forgot. Sorry. I hope you enjoy, and hopefully you will follow the not-so-subtle hints to figure out what happened. See ya when I have the next chapter!


	15. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Do you really think I came up with either of them? If so, there are still plenty of bridges to buy.

Chapter 14

When Ranma woke up, she knew immediately that something was wrong. For one thing, she didn't recognize her surroundings at all, and for another she heard soft talking from another room nearby. Staggering to her feet, she looked around and realized that she was in a girl's room. It wasn't hard to guess what happened.

"Someone found me and brought me here. I obviously wasn't injured in any way, so they must have decided to let me wake up here." She carefully walked toward the door that led towards the voices she had already heard.

In another room, eight girls and two cats were circled around the low table, discussing their newest guest.

Rei shook her head in confusion. "There's something strange about that girl. The cat ears and tail are definitely part of her, but it's like she wasn't born with them. And before you ask, I don't think they were put in surgically, like on that weird TV show."

Ami looked up from her computer. "You're right, Rei. Her DNA is something I've never seen before. It's like it can be either male or female, but she can also be cat-like, a cat, or human."

A strange voice answered her. "Wow, you can tell all of that? I didn't know that was possible."

They all looked up and saw the girl they had found in front of Rei's home. Ami was the first to find her voice. "Er, well, this is a very advanced computer."

Ranma came in a little farther and crouched beside her. "Neat." Then she sniffed slightly and seemed to study each in turn. "Hm. Elemental. All elemental." She studied the wide-eyed girls around her and stopped at one. "Except you. Unless light could be considered an element, but I don't think it quite fits, either."

Usagi smiled nervously. "Erm, what do you mean?"

Ranma smiled calmly at her. "You are innocent, but not. Good, but you do what you must. Not everyone would consider death to be something to go to automatically, but you have handled it admirably. You know the rules, but you don't always follow them."

Ranma chuckled softly. "You remind me quite a bit of a girl from school. While I don't think she'd mind me using her name for someone else, I think Moon sounds better."

Haruka was the first to speak. "Who are you? And why do you want to call Usagi 'Moon'?"

Ranma tilted her head at the girl, looking very much like a curious kitten. Luna had to bury her urge to go lick her ears like any kitten she had known. "Well, Luna never seemed to play by most rules. Moon doesn't either. It just kinda fits, Wind."

Haruka blinked. That hadn't been what she expected in the least. "You didn't answer my other question."

Ranma smiled. "Sorry about that. Even with Auntie Min helping, I sometimes forget my manners. My name is Ranma. Before you ask, no I don't have a family name."

Usagi blinked. "Does that mean you're homeless?"

There were several cries of " USAGI!" for that, but Ranma didn't seem to mind. "No, I have a home, Moon. It just isn't here. I even have parts of a family. My Auntie Min, and I suppose Raven could be a kind of uncle." She snickered. "I might call him that sometime just to see his face. Note to self, bring camera."

Ranma shook herself slightly. "Anyway, the trio could be considered younger siblings." She frowned angrily. "I have no father. I renounced his name over a year ago."

A voice spoke from behind her. "Why can't I find you anywhere?"

Ranma smiled and turned to face a tall woman with dark green hair. "Easy, you probably aren't looking in the right places, Tempus temporis."

Setsuna frowned. "And where should I be looking?" She didn't bother to ask about what Ranma had called her, though she was curious.

Ranma smiled and stood to face her. "One, if I exist in this reality, I doubt it is in this form. Two, even if I did exist in this reality, I am not from it. Either way, you would not be looking in the right place."

Setsuna frowned and studied her for a long moment. This girl didn't seem the least fazed by her. "You're from a different reality?"

Ranma shrugged. "Near as I can tell, yes." She turned away slightly, and spoke to Ami. "Ice, didn't you say that that computer was very advanced?" Ami simply nodded, not questioning her nickname either. "Can you look for any mentions of the family name Saotome?"

Frowning, Ami typed away for a moment. "I can't find anything. It's like they don't exist. Wait, here's something." She read it for a moment and paled. "It's a death certificate for Ranma, Nodoka, and Genma Saotome."

Ranma sighed softly. "How did they die?"

Ami was pale as she spoke. "Ranma was killed first, in what has been listed as a training accident when he was seven. He was allegedly covered in cat scratches."

Ranma shivered slightly and scooped up Luna, who was closest. Luna was a little surprised, but didn't object. "What else?"

Ami continued. "Genma was caught by the authorities, and given the death sentence. He died soon after. Nodoka committed ritual suicide, leaving a note that said that she had no reason to live without her family."

Ranma had her nose buried in Luna's fur, and Luna instinctively purred to try and comfort her. When Ranma looked up, her whiskers were twitching slightly, but she seemed calmer.

Finally, Ami broke the silence that had descended. "Why did you ask?"

Ranma sighed. "I wanted to know what had happened. I'm not surprised, though. Genma was always slimy, but this takes the cake." She began to pace, absently petting Luna, who didn't seem to know what to do except try and comfort the girl with her purring. "He was either drunk, someone better than him at Martial Arts helped, or both. I'd bet on both."

Usagi cautiously stood and walked over to the girl. Gently she pulled her into a hug. "Would it help to tell us about it?"

Ranma smirked slightly as she hugged the blond girl back. "I don't know about that, but it might." She paused for a moment. "My whiskers are out, aren't they?"

Usagi stepped back and looked at her. "Yes, and your fur seems thicker, too."

Ranma laughed softly and sat down, still holding Luna. Usagi settled beside her. "It happens when I get emotional about something. Usually sadness or rage."

Setsuna calmly knelt on the other side of Ranma from Usagi. "Why do you feel sad?"

Ranma snorted. "The only one I don't have to grieve for in that tragic tale is Genma. He got everything he deserved, and I hope they used something painful to finally put him down."

She sighed and calmed slightly. "This may not be my reality, but in a way that just makes it worse. This Ranma probably didn't have anyone to help him, not even the simple happiness of a friend."

Ranma shook herself slightly, as if to shake away memories. When she spoke again, she was marginally more cheerful. "Well, anyway. There's nothing I can do here." She may have seemed calmer, but everyone could see the way her whiskers twitched and the fur nearly obscured her skin color. Not to mention the way she held a quietly purring Luna.

Finally, Luna herself spoke. "If you are not from this reality, then how did you get here?"

Ranma looked down at Luna, who was watching her calmly and still purring softly. "I didn't think you were an ordinary cat. Anyway, I'm here because I was trying to help a friend." She smirked, extremely amused. "I knew there would be a backlash, but I didn't think it would happen quite like this."

Ranma set Luna down and concentrated for a moment. Soon, her facial features became less feline, and her whiskers were gone. The fur lightened to the point where at a distance it could be mistaken for normal body hair.

Finally she looked up at her captive audience and began to explain. "Tornado has a curse passed down through his family. Basically, he had no sense of direction and was often randomly teleported to different places. I managed to weave the curse back into his aura, but it created a backlash that stuck me with part of his curse. I have no problems telling direction, but I was evidently thrown out of my reality and into another."

Ranma's eyes flashed, and she looked down to study her own aura. It wasn't hard to find what she was looking for. "Hm. Ryouga can find me, but this thing is about to swing. I guess I'll have varying amounts of time in each world, though I think I can control it to some extent. Either hold it off or bring it on sooner."

Looking up, Ranma looked at each of them deeply. "I don't think I will be returning to this reality, but I am not sorry I came. It is good to know that there are still people willing to fight for their world."

With a bright flash of light that momentarily blinded them all, Ranma was gone as mysteriously as she had come.

> > > > > > >

AN: I don't know about any other cats, but the ones in my experience tend to be rather possessive. I think Ranma finally got tired of me paying so much attention to a different muse and decided to pop back in. No idea when another chapter will come, but then I never can tell. Ranma may be possessive, but he's also fickle. I know the chapter is somewhat shorter than some of them, but it seemed like a good place to stop.

Any objections to the world I chose will be laughed at. Like Ranma said, I sincerely doubt we'll do Sailor Moon again, and anyway it wasn't that big a deal. No Ranma being stuffed in one of those outfits, anyway. I don't know if we'll see Ranma again next chapter or go see what Ryouga's doing. Just have to wait.


	16. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: You'd _know_ if I owned any of them. I have an extremely odd sense of humor.

Chapter 15

Ryouga shook his head dazedly. Looking around, he realized that the floor within the circle seemed polished, as if a large amount of heat had passed over it. Something seemed missing, so he absently looked around.

'Let's see, Dumbledore-san, Kasumi, and the ones that Ranma called the trio are by the west wall. I'm facing north, so Ranma was facing… Wait. Ranma. Where is she?' Without thinking about it, Ryouga 'searched' for Ranma. 'She's not here, not in the castle, she's definitely not in England, Japan, or China. So where is she?'

Ryouga thought of something else, and spread his senses over the world. "Must be in another dimension, then," he muttered.

Kasumi cautiously stepped forward and crouched in front of Ryouga. "What did you say, Ryouga? Do you know where Ranma is?"

Ryouga looked at her, and for a long moment, he couldn't breathe as he realized what he had just been doing. "I-I don't know where she is, but I know where she isn't."

Kasumi was confused by that. "What do you mean? And what's wrong?"

Ryouga shook his head slightly. "It's weird. I know where I am for the first time in my life." Kasumi's eyes widened in surprise, but he continued before she could say anything. "And Ranma isn't here. She's nowhere on this world, in fact."

By now, the trio had stepped away from the wall, and moved cautiously forward while Dumbledore watched them all. Hermione spoke first. "How do you know she's not on this world, then? And do you know where you could start looking?"

Ryouga sighed. "I don't know how I did it, but I searched all over. Ranma isn't here. Something tells me she was blown out of this reality, into another dimension."

Kasumi put a hand on his shoulder and smiled to calm him. "If she was blown out of this dimension by the backlash of your curse, does that mean you can follow her?"

Ryouga blinked as he considered that possibility. "I think I could, but it'd be kind of hit-and-miss. I don't know where exactly she might have been sent, but if I can find her trail, I can follow that wherever she is sent."

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "Well then, we shall send you on your way. If you go down to the kitchen, tell them that Dumbledore said you were to be provisioned for a long trip."

Ryouga turned slightly to give him a strange look. "Why are you helping?"

Dumbledore simply smiled, not the least bit offended. "Well, it would be helpful to have our Physical Defense teacher back soon."

Kasumi smiled slightly. "Go on, Ryouga. The sooner you find Ranma, the sooner her students will move onto new material." When he gave her a questioning look, she simply smiled. "I may not have been as into martial arts as my sister, but I _can_ correct their forms and make sure they do not fall too far behind."

Ryouga smiled. "Alright, Kasumi. I'll see you soon, I hope." He hugged her and turned to walk out the door. Without prompting, he calmly set off in the direction of the nearest path to the kitchen.

Kasumi smiled as she watched. "He really does know where he is, now. That's good." She calmly turned toward the trio and Dumbledore. "If you don't mind, I would like to be introduced as Ranma's substitute while she's gone. It should make things easier."

Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, of course. Right this way, Miss Tendo.

> > > > > > >

Once he had gotten the provisions Dumbledore had mentioned from the house elves—strange creatures, but they seemed happy—he set out away from the castle. He had no idea what his travel would do to the landscape, but considering how it looked in the Room of Requirement, he didn't want to take chances.

Ryouga decided on a quick test-hop, there and back again, to make sure he could find his own world. Since he hadn't wanted to go anywhere in particular, he landed in a world with landscape much like what he'd left. He hopped back to his home reality in the exact spot he had left, and found that the land hadn't been affected in the least.

"Huh. Must have been that 'backlash' thing Ranma was talking about," he muttered. Without another word, he was gone from his own reality.

> > > > > > >

Ranma sighed. There were times she would love to know how she managed to get into these situations. 'Let's see, I just left the reality where those elemental warriors were, and landed here. The question is, where is 'here'?' "I wonder if Ryouga would be too annoyed with me if I asked 'Where the hell am I now?' every time I land in another reality."

Ranma sighed and rolled off of the branch she had somehow landed on, and hit the ground with her usual grace. Her ears flicked slightly as she heard a strange sound to her left. With a shrug, she decided to head off in that direction. It was as good as anywhere else while she was here.

Logan sniffed the air when he heard a strange set of footsteps coming from the trees by the wall. The kids were having a no-powers baseball game, so he didn't want them interrupted right now. They deserved to relax once in a while.

Glancing back at Charles, Logan sent a thought. Hey, Chuck. We expectin' visitors?

Charles frowned. None that I know of. Let me check. A moment later, he continued. Strange. There is someone coming this way, but he or she doesn't seem hostile.

Logan raised an eyebrow. 'He or she'? Don't you know?

Charles shook his head, looking in the direction of their mystery visitor. No, actually. I can't. It's like our visitor is either both or neither.

Logan frowned in confusion at that, but just then a redhead came into sight. A casual observer might have thought her harmless, but Logan was far from casual. If she wanted to, this girl could be a very dangerous person to cross.

The baseball game—which had been about to degenerate into the usual chaos—paused as everyone noticed the newcomer.

Ranma watched as the large group noticed her. Most of them had been playing some kind of ball game on the huge lawn of a mansion. Two of them, the only adults that she could see, had obviously noticed her before she revealed herself. Her ears flickered as she heard the others murmuring, and she realized they spoke in English with an American accent. Well, that narrowed things down a bit.

"Excuse me, but would you mind telling me where I am? I'm a bit lost." Logan furrowed a brow at the girls words. If she didn't know where she was, how did she get here?

Charles was the one who answered. "You are at my school for the gifted. Would you mind telling us how you got here, Miss…?"

Ranma smiled slightly. "Ranma. And the way I got here is a bit hard to explain, but I promise I won't bring harm to your students."

Charles raised an eyebrow as he considered this. Her thoughts seemed a bit jumbled, but the girl—Ranma—was telling the truth. "Very well, Miss Ranma. My name is Charles Xavier and this is Logan. Would you mind coming to my office and answering a few questions?"

Ranma smiled. "It's just Ranma, but sure." While they had spoken, Ranma had walked nearer, and calmly followed the man in the wheelchair as he turned toward the mansion.

The other man followed, and Ranma caught his scent. It reminded her of a semi-feral animal, only as tame as he wanted to be. She smiled ever so slightly. 'Boy, can I relate to that! It was a little hard to function around other people for a while after I first merged, I felt like a feral animal at times.'

When the three reached, Xavier's office, he calmly stopped his chair behind his desk while Ranma sat in the chair in front of it and Logan settled against the wall. Ranma looked around the large room, sniffing the air discreetly. 'Hmm. Interesting.' Finally, her eyes flashed and she was looking at Xavier's aura. 'Thought so.'

"You're a mind speaker, aren't you, Xavier-san?" Ranma asked the question idly, not really needing an answer.

Charles raised an eyebrow. "If you mean am I a telepath, then yes. Is there something wrong with that?"

Ranma shook her head absently, already studying Logan's aura. "Nah. Just so you know I like my privacy. I practically blew up at Bumblebee-san when he tried to look at some of my memories without permission." Ranma snorted softly to herself, thoughts turning back briefly. 'I like the man, but he is undeniably nosy about some things. Hopefully he learned his lesson. I made sure he knew exactly what I thought about that.'

Sighing softly, Ranma turned back to Logan once more. She frowned in some confusion when she saw something she wasn't sure she recognized. 'Wait a minute, healing? It looks a bit like some of Osprey's spells, but it's more general. Meant to heal everything? Combine that with the fact that he was much more comfortable outside than he is even now, and the fact that he is only as civilized as he chooses to be…'

Ranma slapped her forehead. "I _really_ need to stay away from certain writers," she muttered to herself.

Charles raised an eyebrow at the gesture and words. "Is something wrong, Ranma?"

Ranma blushed slightly. "Ah, have you ever read a series called Xanth, written by Piers Anthony?"

Logan snorted. "Couple of the kids read that. All I know is it has a lot of puns." He rolled his eyes.

Ranma bit her lip, trying not to smile. "Well, one of the earlier ones is called Crewel Lye: A Caustic Yarn. It tells the story of Jordan the Barbarian."

Charles raised an eyebrow. By the emotions he could feel coming from her, this could be interesting. "Why are you mentioning this, Ranma?"

Ranma gave up on trying not to smile. "Well, a little back story first. Every person born in Xanth has a magic talent, since Xanth itself is a magic land. Talents vary from extremely worthless—mostly called 'spot-on-the-wall' talents. Those can be exactly as they sound. Others can be more useful, for various reasons. The strongest ones are called Magician or Sorceress level. Of course, there are a lot in between."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Is there some point to this, Cat?"

Ranma smirked wickedly. "Well, like I said, Crewel Lye is about the story of Jordan the Barbarian. He was a true barbarian, and was much more at home in the wild than anywhere else, so he mostly traveled."

Her smirk widened, and Logan was getting a little nervous. "Of course, the wilds of Xanth are extremely dangerous for various reasons, mostly things like dragons and goblins and such like that. He never would have gotten very far without his talent to heal from any injury, to the point that he came back to life too many times to count. See the similarities, _Jordan__-__san?"_

> > > > > > >

AN: Yes, I know it's been a while since I put up the last chapter. I'm really sorry, but I had most of this for a while, I just wanted to add a little more. This seemed like a good stopping point. The really annoying part about it is that I technically had this done _yesterday._ For whatever reason, wasn't cooperating, so you get the chapter now, instead.

For those of you who have never read Xanth, believe me, it's worth it. The puns can be a bit much, though. And the connection between Jordan the Barbarian and Logan just kind of popped in my head, and I really couldn't resist adding it. No idea when the next chapter will be out, so don't be too annoyed with me, please.


	17. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I'm not Japanese. We'll leave it at that.

Chapter 16

Ryouga frowned as he looked around. He was in some kind of forest, which made him think he was somewhere far from civilization. A quick check with his newly controlled power, and he realized he was somewhere deep in a forest in northern Europe. He searched some more, and just as he had thought, there were very few signs of humans anywhere near. The nearest seemed to be a small town at the edge of the forest.

Ryouga suddenly realized he was in danger, but before he could react he was tackled to the ground by a boy near his age dressed only in what seemed to be the tattered remains of a pair of pants. Ryouga stared into almost-familiar blue eyes. The only difference he could see was that these eyes, set in a definitely familiar face, showed little except a kind of animal cunning. Without thinking, he spoke. "Ranma?"

The boy, who had once been known as Ranma, blinked, caught by surprise at the familiar sound. He cocked his head slightly, and studied the one beneath him. At first, the feline mind inside the boy had classified this one as _danger, intruder_ and decided on _kill, destroy, no more intruder_.

Then this intruder seemed to recognize him, and the feline wondered if this was _friend, ally, not intruder_. After a long moment, the feline decided to give him a chance and backed off. The scent of this strange not-intruder was calm, surprised, not angry. If the not-intruder decided to attack, the feline would know. If not, well, not all humans were to be destroyed.

Ryouga watched, slightly stunned as this version of his friend decided to give him a chance. He slowly rose into a crouch and extended a hand, careful not to make any sudden moves. 'If this Ranma decides he doesn't like me, I may not have time to get away without injury, even _with_ being able to control my traveling now. I've seen what Ranma can do with those claws when he wants.'

Ranma considered both the hand and the male holding it out for a long moment. Slowly, he moved forward enough to be able to sniff at the hand. After a long moment, he rubbed his head against it, deciding he liked this not-intruder.

Ryouga sighed in relief and gently scratched behind Ranma's ear. 'Good thing Ranma brushed me up on cat etiquette. So right now, this Ranma considers me a friend, and as long as I don't do something extremely stupid, I should be alright.'

Now that the introductions were done, Ranma turned and slinked away. When Ryouga didn't immediately follow, he looked over his shoulder questionably. Ryouga blinked, but decided that Ranma wanted him to follow. With a shrug, he did as requested. 'Not like I have anywhere else to go for the moment.'

Now that he didn't have to worry about Ranma shredding him, Ryouga got a good look at this version of his friend. Black hair was cut short, as if someone had done it for function, not form. 'Probably cuts it whenever it gets long enough to snag in things.'

What he had at first taken for the remains of a pair of pants turned out to be an extremely beat up pair of shorts that looked like they fit him reasonably well. 'Does that mean he's been in contact with humans lately? You'd think he'd just shred them, but considering how he reacted to me, I suppose it's not too far-fetched.'

By now, the two of them had reached what looked like a small cave dug between the roots of one of the more massive trees. Ryouga frowned as he looked around. Ranma simply went into his shelter without a backward glance.

Ryouga couldn't quite put a finger on it, but something about this place told him his earlier assumption of human contact could be true. 'It's not hard to assume he simply dug out the dirt a bit to make himself a kind of den, but there's something about the way things are here…' He looked at what seemed to be a pile of leaves, but before he could figure out what was strange, somebody interrupted his thoughts.

A female voice suddenly spoke up from behind Ryouga. "I see he brought another stray in." Ryouga whirled in surprise, unsure how the girl had managed to sneak up on him. "Strange, he usually only brings in the women and children. I think it has something to do with how he views male intruders."

Ryouga stared at her. The girl was about his age, with brown hair and eyes. She was dressed comfortably for the cool climate of the forest, and she seemed extremely at home there. That wasn't what made him stare, though. What made him stare was what looked like a massive spatula slung across her back, with a bandolier of smaller ones across her chest.

The girl moved past Ryouga, not bothered by his staring. "I'm Ukyou, by the way. What's your name?"

Ryouga blinked, but finally found his voice. "Ah, I'm Ryouga." He shook himself. "I hope you don't mind, but how…?" He trailed off, unsure how to phrase his question.

Ukyou smiled. "How did I get here?" Ryouga nodded. "Well, I followed a man named Genma, actually. He tried to abandon me by the side of a road, but he underestimated how persistent I would be. After a while, I think he finally got desperate and went deep into the woods.

"I wasn't able to follow at first, and by the time I could, Genma had decided to go through with something drastic." She motioned toward the cave where Ranma's form could just barely be seen. "By the time I caught up with them, Genma was long gone and Ranma was like that. I don't know what he did, but Ranma has acted like a feral cat ever since I found him."

Ukyou smiled slightly. "He'll occasionally bring strays in, but like I said they're usually female. If the circumstances were different, I'd probably be jealous, but this way there is no point in it."

Ryouga blinked as he considered her story. "What do you mean by 'strays'? You called _me_ that, too."

Ukyou shrugged. "It's nothing personal. People sometimes decide to hike through the woods. Occasionally, someone will get lost and wander off. Like I said, a lot of the ones he brings in are children, though there are occasionally women who for whatever reason don't know their way around the forest. They stay here until I find some way to either get them to the nearest town, or the search parties come close enough to pick them up."

She smiled. "Whenever I go into town for supplies, I hear stories of a feline spirit of the forest, who helps those who need help, if only they are willing to accept it and not attack instead." She shook her head. "I think I'm usually considered one of those he rescued that decided to stay with him."

Ranma came out of his cave and bumped against her leg until she took the hint and sat down. Ranma instantly curled up beside her and allowed himself to be petted, watching Ryouga. Ryouga slowly lowered himself into a sitting position, not wanting to be considered a threat. "Are you?"

Ukyou laughed. "You're more direct than most people. But yes, I think I could be considered one of those he rescued." She smiled fondly down at Ranma. "If I hadn't followed him, I think I would have been stuck on a quest for vengeance with no way out. As it is, I have perfected my Art out here, and found peace at the same time. I can do some good, but I don't have to feel pressured to fit into a mold that someone else has created. So yes, I am one of the ones that Ranma rescued."

Ryouga sighed. "Well, at least I know that this Ranma is happy."

Ukyou frowned, suddenly cautious. "What do you mean 'this' Ranma? How did you get here, anyway? You don't seem lost."

Ryouga almost laughed at her choice of wording. "If you had met me even a few hours ago, you wouldn't be saying something like that. And how I got here is something of a long story. I'm not sure how much you'll believe."

Ukyou cautiously rose, freeing her large combat-spatula as she did. "Try me. I might believe more than you think."

Ryouga slowly raised his hands, knowing better than to underestimate the girl's skill with her chosen weapon. "First of all, I am not here to harm anyone or anything. All I want is to find a lost friend and bring him back home. It's partially my fault he's lost, and since I'm the only one who can find him it's my responsibility to do it."

Ukyou studied him for a long moment before lowering her weapon, but not putting it away just yet. "All right, I believe you. But I'm still watching you."

Ryouga sighed softly in relief and settled in. "In a way, my story is similar to yours, in that a boy named Ranma rescued me. One of the differences is that I wasn't following him, I just randomly ran across him a lot of the time. You see, I used to have a family curse. I could get lost anywhere in the world, and I'm pretty sure I've everywhere in the world at least once."

Ukyou frowned but didn't say anything as she, too, settled a short distance from Ryouga and set her spatula beside her in easy reach. "What does this have to do with how you got here?"

Ryouga smiled and shook his head. "I'm getting there. You see, the Ranma I knew was also trained in the Neko-ken, like this Ranma, but he had partial control. After a few years, he ran afoul of another example of idiocy from Genma. The good thing about this one was that Ranma not only gained control of the Neko-ken, he also had enough and ditched his father.

"Nearly a year after that, I ran into Ranma again. We had first met in school and formed a kind of instant rivalry." He winced. "More precisely, I was an extremely angry kid and challenged him repeatedly, and he was a guy with very little social experience and thought it was all a game. He also beat me every time we fought, so that didn't help my anger any."

Ryouga shook his head. "Anyway, a few hours ago Ranma figured out the cause of my curse was an…'unanchored traveling spell', I think he called it. Anyway, he fixed it but the backlash sent him to who-knows-what alternate reality, and I'm trying to find him."

Ukyou blinked. Then she blinked again. As crazy as this guy's story sounded, something told her it was true. "All right, so your Ranma fixed this curse of yours, but got sent out of his reality in the process."

Ryouga quickly interjected. "He's not 'mine'. He's a friend, and besides that just as feline as this Ranma."

Ukyou smiled slightly at that. "Fair enough. So anyway, you're looking for that specific Ranma? Then how did you end up here?"

Ryouga shrugged. "I have no way of knowing where exactly Ranma was sent, so I have to check kind of randomly. All I could think of was to focus on 'Ranma' and see where I'm taken. In this case, I was taken to this Ranma. I think the farther I go along, the more I can refine my focus. The only other thing I can hope for is to eventually stumble across his trail."

Ukyou frowned. "So you're going to try and find either the Ranma you know, or stumble across where he's been? How will that help?"

Ryouga shrugged. "I figure if I can find where he was sent _first_, I can figure out where he's gone next. I'd probably end up having to go through each of the worlds Ranma's gone through, but at least it'd be easier than having to travel completely randomly."

Ukyou considered that for a long moment. "Huh. Makes sense to me. So when are you going to make your next attempt?"

Ryouga shrugged. "I should probably go now. I don't see any point in staying any longer than I have to. I was just kind of curious what the situation was on this world."

Ukyou climbed to her feet smiled slightly. "Well, thanks for sticking around as long as you have and satisfying my curiosity. Hopefully you'll have more luck on your next try."

Ryouga shrugged as he, too, climbed to his feet. "It's okay. Like I said, I can narrow my search down a little, and it was nice meeting you." Without another word, he was gone.

Ukyou smiled and glanced down at Ranma, who hadn't bothered to move. "Well, that was strange. Hope he finds the one he's looking for."

> > > > > > >

In another world, Ryouga landed in a park. A quick check told him he was in Tokyo, Japan. 'Huh. Why am I here? I was trying to remember to focus on the thought that Ranma went to Jusenkyo as well as the fact that he's feline. So why here?'

A confused meowing sound in front of him made Ryouga look up. There was a small black cat with intelligent blue eyes looking back at him. Ryouga stared for a long moment. "Ranma?" A positive-sounding meow was his only response. Ryouga hung his head slightly. 'This could take a while.'

> > > > > > > >

AN: Well, Once more I have been abandoned by Ranma, and the Phantom plot bunnies have been invading in force. In other words, I've been getting all kinds of Danny Phantom ideas, but not really any Ranma ones. Finally, I ended up almost kicking myself at a very simple solution. Ranma is feline, and enjoys being contrary. Ryouga, however, is much more cooperative and I needed to give some idea of how is search will be going. Voila, we have a Ryouga chapter.

And for those who I just know will ask, no, Ukyou was not implying that Ranma and Ryouga were going out. She just meant the Ranma from his reality. And since Ryouga has been informed of feline etiquette to some extent, he knows just how independant Ranma is. He wouldn't take kindly to anyone saying he belonged to someone.


End file.
